Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision gives a classification of recognised mental health disorders in the form of DSM-IV codes.
The fear of clowns is described as a specific phobia with a code of 300.29.
A specific phobia is a fear that lacks a reason or rational against an exposure to a certain object or situation.
Such specific phobias can leads to a disability in normal life as people suffering from such phobias tend to avoid situations where they may encounter such phobias.
The fear of clowns is known as Coulrophobia which is a type of specific phobia when it interferes with the normal functioning and is persistent.
Since Francis becomes anxious upon seeing a clown since he was 6 years old and the fear persists and he avoids going to places where he sees clowns, he has specific phobia against clowns.
