Words: Lily Wasserman | Photo: Jayden James

With a thud, the hammer hits the mannequin, toppling it to the concrete floor. Armed with safety goggles, jumpsuits, and baseball bats, participants let loose onto a printer until it’s flat and all its machinery guts scatter across the ground.

These rage sanctuaries are created to externalize feelings of rage, transforming clenched teeth and boiling blood to broken bottles and keyboards.

Why would we take our rage to a room? Maybe we don’t know how to handle the complicated feelings after a breakup, or we just had a long week. Or possibly we’re just curious about this unconventional space designed to smash your rage out.

Taking up the Hammer

Brooklyn McLemore and Abigail Webb rage out in Smash Room Iowa in Des Moines as one of them vents about going through a “really nasty breakup with a very toxic person.”

It can be hard to find an outlet for anger — retail therapy isn’t going to work every time. So why not take your anger out on a set of fine china?

“I could deal with all of my other emotions. Sadness, I could cry it out. Relief, I could feel that. But anger — you can’t just walk up to a guy on the street and punch him,” McLemore says.

Despite what constantly gets thrown at them by society and peers, women are frequently labeled as overly emotional when they express rage, where anger portrays power for men.

“There’s an overall feeling that you shouldn’t be angry, [that] anger is wrong, especially with women,” says Ricc Terranova, a licensed mental health counselor who runs anger management therapy groups at Broadlawns Clinic in Des Moines, Iowa. “[Anger] isn’t [as] acceptable for a woman as it is for a man.”

But McLemore and Webb didn’t care what anyone thought as they tore through the room.

“We smashed like 30 bottles … That felt so good,” McLemore says. “[And a] printer. We just demolished that sucker.”

There’s a moment of relief when we figure out how to harness the anger from within.

“I just feel so alive,” McLemore says. “I feel like I can go home and actually sleep instead of being like … ‘life sucks.’”

Alternative Outlets

Professionals largely disapprove of using rage rooms to deal with overwhelming emotions.

“Catharsis of aggressive or violent tendencies doesn’t work,” says Craig Anderson, a professor of psychology at Iowa State University. “Attempts to reduce aggression by expressing anger [only] increases the likelihood of later aggression.”

This doesn’t mean rage rooms can’t be helpful when you need to blow off some steam — it just needs to be a conscious decision.

“[When] going to a rage room … there’s the control. But if you go home, and your instinct is to smash your apartment up, there’s two different types of anger involved there,” Terranova says. “Instead of putting it through the windshield, hang on till tomorrow when the rage room’s open and go there.”

To Rage or Not to Rage

Rage rooms aren’t going to solve all of your problems. If you’re experiencing anger issues, there may be better avenues.

“Until you get to the root cause of what you’re thinking and why that’s affecting how you’re feeling, [rage rooms aren’t] going to be the most effective way of dealing with anger,” says Nancy Lynch, a retired social worker who follows the cognitive behavioral therapy approach.

It’s best to approach your feelings of stress or anger with a growth mindset. Look inward to the messy memories that might be causing your emotions. Challenge preconceived notions or ideas that are causing those powerful feelings, and create a plan to move forward.

“Talk to somebody,” Lynch says. “You don’t have to go to a therapist. Talk to a friend or someone whose advice you value.”

Sometimes rage rooms can be a healthy demonstration of anger if you plan accordingly. It can be difficult to reconcile with anger, making rage rooms a convenient relief.

“It just felt like a release of everything,” McLemore says. “I feel so peaceful now … My ears are definitely ringing, but it’s still quiet somehow.”