Anger Rooms for People to Lash Out and Smash Stuff Are Becoming a Thing

Sometimes there’s no better stress relief than to turn oneself into a raging force of destruction.

The only problem is that the consequences of your outburst often incur more stress than whatever it was that drove you to burn your significant other’s closet or clog the sinks at work and leave the water running.

Well, good news, because anger rooms are becoming a thing.

There’s one in Dallas that lets you smash an assortment of printers, alarm clocks, glass cups, vases, etc. at $25 for five minutes. You can also choose to have a custom room set up for $500, an option that’s seen mannequins of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton lined up for citizens’ wrath.

Anger rooms are starting to pop up around the world, and there are even such spaces in Toronto and Niagara Falls.

“Great stress relief, or a way to vent anger. Price was great as well, lots of time to go nuts and unwind,” says one reviewer of the Rage Room at Niagara Falls’ Qube Entertainment Emporium.

screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-5-25-41-pm

While it may momentarily feel that way, most science suggests that anger release is a sub-optimal way to achieve zen.

“Although it’s appealing to think that expressing anger can reduce stress, there is not much evidence of that,” says George M. Slavich, a clinical psychologist and director of the Laboratory for Stress Assessment and Research at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“On the contrary, the types of physiological and immune responses that occur during anger can actually be harmful for health.”

It’s not all about anger, though. For some, acting like a bull in a china shop is just good fun. Most anger rooms allow you to choose the music you wish to rage to, the weapons you use – baseball bats, golf clubs, sledgehammers, etc. – and some even let you take home the video evidence. It’s also a very popular date night option.

“People really love that,” says Mr. Shew of the Rage Room in an interview with the New York Times. “I guess because it has a bit of a teamwork element to it.”

Just make sure your boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse isn’t the source of your rage.

[ninja_form id=104]

[ad_bb1]