IIf you find it difficult to count to 10 when your anger rises, a new trend offers a more practical approach. Rage rooms are springing up across Britain, allowing punters to break seven bells from old TVs, plates and furniture.
Such pay-to-destroy ventures are believed to have originated in Japan in 2008, but have since gone global. In the UK alone venues can be found in locations ranging from Birmingham to Brighton, many of which promote mayhem as a stress-free experience.
According to the Smash It Rage Rooms in south-east London, where a 30-minute single session costs £50, “each smash is a cathartic release, an explosion of pure, primal joy”.
“We’re at capacity — we were looking for another location because we couldn’t keep up with the demand,” said Amelia Smoing, who founded the business with her husband after looking for ways to help their son deal with PTSD.
Rob Clarke, operations director of Urban Extreme Ltd, said the popularity of its Rage Rooms is growing year-on-year, with customers ranging from young people looking for a unique experience, groups of women celebrating a break-up and people using the space as a “healthy outlet” for stress or mental health challenges.
Clark said many clients were facing difficult personal challenges. “The feedback we get is consistently good – the Rage Room gives them a safe, creative way to vent pent-up anger and frustration and it’s making a real difference to their mental health,” she said.
Lucy B, founder of Rage Rooms Leamington Spa, said people from schools and children’s homes also came to her venue. But people also come just for entertainment. “This goes completely against how we are prepared to behave,” he said. “That’s very naughty.”
B said, as in other places, the typical “ragger” is female. “We’re talking early 40s, female, some kids, good job,” he said.
Bee said that after training as a holistic healer, she found that many women experience guilt and shame when they feel angry.
“A lot of women… are at the breaking point, permanently reeling, living in a state of survival. And this gives them a way out of it,” Bee said, Having said that, for some people who were struggling, this experience can act as a gateway to getting further help.
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Despite having a happy home life, I get frustrated with home repairs, poor train services and the condition of the country. So I don a protective suit, pull down my visor and enter one of B’s rage chambers.
Within seconds I’m turning wine bottles into glass explosions, laughing with surprise at myself. But I don’t enjoy the noise and am thinking more about the mess rather than experiencing the release.
Experts are also worried.
Last year, Dr. Sophie Kjorvik, who works at the Norwegian Center for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies in Oslo, co-authored a review of which activities promote or reduce anger. He said the evidence showed that “unwinding” was actually counterproductive.
“You’re activating your body in a way that lets your brain understand that you’re getting more angry,” she said. “We found that meditation and mindfulness and muscle relaxation activities are more productive ways to deal with anger.” Kjorvik said cognitive behavioral therapy was also very efficient.
Dr. Ryan Martin, dean of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and author of several books on anger, said that people who relied on catharsis remained angry longer, and were more likely to lash out aggressively after the fact. “I think the problem is that it sounds good, so people believe it’s good for them,” he said. “But at the same time, other things that we know can feel good when we’re emotional, like drinking alcohol, overeating… they’re not necessarily good for us.”
Ohio State University professor Brad Bushman, who co-authored the review with Kjorvik, also raised concerns. “When people vent their anger in these anger rooms, they are just practicing how to behave more aggressively,” he said.
Smoing emphasized that the rage room is an air-conditioned environment. “Just because they broke the air fryer in the rec room, doesn’t mean they’re going to go home and break the air fryer in their kitchen,” she said.
Suzie Reading, a chartered member of the British Psychological Society and author of the book How to Be Selfish, said it’s not that anger shouldn’t be expressed, but there are many ways to do so, including writing and breathing exercises. Reading also said that rage rooms can offer an outlet for stress, but cost money and do not provide information about the causes of such feelings.
“If there’s no understanding of what’s causing it, we just go back to our home lives and our work lives and our communities, and nothing changes,” she said. “And for a lot of women, (it’s because of) unmet needs.”
Reading said overcoming some feelings of anger may be important for effective negotiation. “We want to regulate our nervous system so we can express well,” she said.
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