Coulrophobia: the fear of clowns [closed]
Closed by System on Jul 26, 2019 at 20:28
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Can a child who has been sexually harassed by clowns be said to have 'coulrophobia: the fear of clowns' because of the fear and trauma she is undergoing?
I mean to ask if the word 'coulrophobia' can be used when she's scared because of the fact that she was harassed.
I'm writing a story on this girl, who was raped but was diagnosed to be coulrophobiac by the doctor. He didn't know, neither did he check whether she was raped.
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1 answer
I would say no. The phobias are more in the realm of irrational fears, not rational ones. So she might develop coulrophobia, but she doesn't have it just because she got raped by somebody dressed as a clown.
She is more likely to fear that specific clown makeup; not the whole category of clowns in general. I can't imagine a doctor incompetent enough to diagnose "coulrophobia" because of a single incident. That isn't even a medical doctor's call; it is a clinical psychologist's call, and they don't diagnose phobias lightly.
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