• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Walking your banana

durentu

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2008
Messages
411
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w4
Shame-attacking exercise that is used in REBT and CBT in order to reduce social anxiety and help to decrease level of shyness. A banana is attached to a string and "walked" around a public place. This makes the client feel more comfortable in very uncomfortable situations. (It's also HILARIOUS to video tape and to watch people's reactions to what you are doing) hahahah

[YOUTUBE="oFdkjj8oR6Q"]Exercise in shame[/YOUTUBE]
 

sLiPpY

New member
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
2,003
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
9w8
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
oh, that was torcherous!

I kept wanting to get up! Run over to the mall!

And find someone pulling a banana, so I could chase it down and stomp/squish it! :blush:
 

KDude

New member
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Messages
8,243
Not exactly related, but this reminds of a story Johnny Depp had about some movie he did when he was younger... He said he did certain scenes holding a banana... he thought he was getting overly serious and wanted to relax. or maybe everyone else was overly serious. i forgot now.
 
G

Ginkgo

Guest
Awesome! I think wearing this would be more effective though:

Man%20Eating%20Shark%20Costume%20For%20Kids.jpg


Then again, when you're walking a banana, you're less likely to be pulverized or shoved down escalators.

Also, this:

[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9iq9gdeIE4"]Invisible Dogs[/YOUTUBE]
 

Little_Sticks

New member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Messages
1,358
That's interesting. I feel comfortable by blending in and becoming more of a friendly ghost among the masses. I imagine the banana would induce anxiety. Especially if I had to explain the reasoning of why I am walking with a banana to everyone and having them think it actually relaxes me when it wouldn't. Would that work for you durentu?
 
G

Ginkgo

Guest
That's interesting. I feel comfortable by blending in and becoming more of a friendly ghost among the masses. I imagine the banana would induce anxiety. Especially if I had to explain the reasoning of why I am walking with a banana to everyone and having them think it actually relaxes me when it wouldn't. Would that work for you durentu?

It's counter-intuitive.

Like, for instance, if you had a low esteem about your singing ability, you would slowly reduce that seed of fear of public singing by... well, public singing. If you were to step it up a notch and sing publicly with a sombrero on your head, you would thicken that "mental callous" and become even more fearless.

Like, some people are petrified of riding roller-coasters. However, if they were to work up the gumption to ride the biggest, fastest one in the world; then they would be fearless against all others.
 

ObliviousExistence

New member
Joined
Sep 19, 2009
Messages
178
MBTI Type
loco
Enneagram
5W4
putting them in an extremely uncomfortable social situations so they feel more comfortable in normal situations. The only problem with this is that the effects are not permanent.
 

disregard

mrs
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
7,826
MBTI Type
INFP
Ahh.. the carabiner-sporting hipsters reminded me of this
You know how dudes are always complaining that they “sat on their keys?” This is never an issue for your average hipster male. Why? Well, because his keys are more often than not clipped to the loop of his skinny jeans with what is known as a carabiner — a tool favored by intrepid mountain climbers to ensure that they don’t careen into the abyss looming below them as they scale a particularly treacherous mountainside. Hipsters sport carabiners for a similar reason — so that they don’t careen into the abyss known as the bourgeoisie mundane. You see, carabiners are often proudly worn by members of the working class: janitors, laborers, docksmen and bartenders — the men who toil away, unseen by the brittle, deadened upper class. They are Nelson Algren’s “pavement-colored people” — men who are simultaneously crippled by society and infinitely powerful, holding the keys (quite literally) to myriad doors. Hipsters carry their keys thusly in an attempt to join the ranks of the “real” epitomized by these work-a-day folk. That and their jeans are so tight that they can’t fit their keys in their pockets, anyway.
Stuff Hipsters Hate
 
P

Phantonym

Guest
That's interesting. I feel comfortable by blending in and becoming more of a friendly ghost among the masses. I imagine the banana would induce anxiety. Especially if I had to explain the reasoning of why I am walking with a banana to everyone and having them think it actually relaxes me when it wouldn't. Would that work for you durentu?

putting them in an extremely uncomfortable social situations so they feel more comfortable in normal situations. The only problem with this is that the effects are not permanent.

It takes time to get out of that pattern of social anxiety. Taking things one step at a time. Today you start with something small, in a while you will walk bananas, and only when you feel more comfortable, you do something different, always raising the stakes, so to say, and slowly getting more comfortable with the idea. And finally, you are able to get to such a place where the anxiety you experienced before doesn't bother you that much. It might not get rid of it completely but there is a possibility that it will get better. That's the point of it all.
 

Randomnity

insert random title here
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
9,485
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
what if you were too socially anxious to walk the banana in the first place?

I thought they had determined that these "severe overstimulating" behaviours weren't as effective as building your way up slowly? That was my understanding at least.
 
P

Phantonym

Guest
what if you were too socially anxious to walk the banana in the first place?

I thought they had determined that these "severe overstimulating" behaviours weren't as effective as building your way up slowly? That was my understanding at least.

I would guess that going straight to walking the banana isn't such a great idea, indeed. That would cause even more psychological trauma. Going at it gradually is the best option, in my opinion.
 
Top