Clowns Ease Anxiety in Patients
Reuters is reporting on a study which concludes that clowns ease anxiety in young patients:
A clown in the operating room may relax anxious children who are about to undergo surgery, but the entertainer has to learn to keep out of the way, Italian researchers said on Monday. […]
I mean, sure, I can understand that clowns would need to stay out of the way, but I can only imagine the extent to which the study covered that issue if the reporter thought it relevant enough to mention it in the opening paragraph.
“You damn clowns!” exclaimed Dr Frederick Petronko as he shoved Honkers out of the way. […]
Well, all right, that’s not actually a real quote. But that’s what I was hoping I’d come across as I read through the article.
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“To me, clowns aren’t funny. In fact, they’re kind of scary. I’ve wondered where this started and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus and a clown killed my dad.” - Jack Handy
Classic.
I was wondering how long it’d take for that quote to crop up ;).
I got around to Monday’s Daily Show last night, and Jon Stewart pointed out that this breaking news bit was actually on the CNN crawl during President Bush’s announcement of the Meirs nomination Monday morning. HILARIOUS.
Awesome! I can’t imagine how CNN thought it worthwhile to call attention to this clown story during the Meirs nomindation.
Wow, I love this site! I’m a therapist and life coach and one of the clients I worked with has developed a ministry much like what you are speaking about here. She’s a professional clown and is now working with school aged children suffering from anxiety, social anxiety and such. The response is wonderful. I guess I’m saying that humor, lightness and “clowning around” can be wonderfully healing for many who suffer from anxiety, depression etc.