Clowns are scary. Examine the picture below. He may look colorful and cuddly- but he's a murderous one.
Coulrophobia- Fear of clowns. Some people consider this an irrational fear, and as rare as it is, I have a friend that panics and has an anxiety attack whenever she sees a clown or an image of a clown anywhere. Reading about phobias in chapter 15- it interested me that this is the most common of all anxiety disorders. Agoraphobia is surprising common, occurring in one in 20 people. This is the fear of social embarrassment. Social phobias are commonly experienced in the milder form- where you are afraid of speaking in public or presenting in front of a small group of people. Magnified by several times would bring you to experience a social phobia full scale. Showing up in public is difficult for people like this as they are constantly surrounded by people and feel the pressure of people watching them. Reading about phobias makes me exceedingly grateful that I live a relatively fear-free life.
But this opens up many other questions like whether phobias can be genetic and the different ways to deal with them. Genetic phobias could be connected to the evolutionary 'mild' fear most people experience when faced with spiders of snakes- as they could pose a threat and be dangerous to ones well-being.
I also have a friend with a fear of clowns. The topic of phobias is so interesting, as they vary so greatly. It amuses me that some people can be deathly afraid of things a large majority of society looks to as resembling happiness and fun. People have phobias of EVERYTHING. I have definitely heard some crazy ones and experienced them first-hand through friends or family. It is sometimes hard to understand how someone could be so afraid of something I see absolutely no fear in. I am just happy and feel lucky that I do not have any serious phobias.