Help me! Weird fear.

[dojo guy]

Hello. I have weird fear and it is kinda like a fear of clowns but its of mascots (those guys who walk around in a costume) I am 14 now and have been afraid since 3. My mom says because at Sesame Street live we were in the front row and all the mascot guys came down and goofed off with me.


So basically I can't go ANYWHERE fun. Everyplace these days have those stupid costume guys. Anytime I go to sports games I have to sit in bad seats to avoid them, and have to stay home when my brothers and mom go to arcades with them and stuff.

So anyway, I know lots about these guys. Everyone knows there just a man/women in a suit. I do, obviously. But I CANNOT GET OVER MY FEARS OF THEM. I mean it seems so childish that I can't go to a Mall with my friends because I'm too afraid to see these guys!

So can anyone tell me how to not be afraid of these things? It's ruining my life.

[minxy]

Hello dojo guy , first of all welcome to the forum and u said that u have fear of clowns or person with mascots , i would say that its all in your mind and i would recommed u to be strong willed and next time u face anyone of them try to talk with them or atleast try to say urself that they are like me only and try to withstand them and give them a big smile , well i'm posting a thread on coping with fear for u especially today and u can have a look onto it and it would really help u and anything else u want , then feel free to ask member outhere , we all are like a big family outhere , pls keep on posting abt u and interact with the members outhere by sharing ur problems and helping each other .

[Spidy]

hello dojo guy , welcome to the forum , nice to have u here in our big family and i read abt ur fear for clowns or people with mascots it sounds funny and weird , but u are not the one who as this kinda of fear , one of my very good friend, we have been friends since last 5yrs, she had a fear when she was in high school , well she told me her story and i thought that manny people who are going through that would get help from that story after hearing abt ur story, so i would post that today in the story subforum and i feel dojo guy it would really help u .

thanks,
spidy.

[NoMoreSpiders]

I can't offer you help, but I certainly understand. This is not a weird fear at all. I don't have a problem with the mascots, but am terrified of clowns. They are very obviously people, but have painted over their faces to appear to be something they're not -- they can't be trusted. I'm really scared of them! You're right they appear in so many places. Maybe we can work on this together. Best to you.

[AnnaSydney]

Definitely go for the Systematic Desensitization. I work with kids with autism, who have tonnes of so called 'weird fears'. It works magic. Start with exposing yourself to them on tv or in pictures. Start with short amout of time and keep going up with the time until you feel like ur feeling comfortable with their pictures or watching em on tv. Then try and face the real thing. Stat with like 10 seconds and keep doing it until you're ok with it. Then double the amout of time etc... I know it sounds scary but i have seen such miracles at work. Trust me, it may not come in a month, but it WILL help.
Good luck and let us know