Rage Rooms; Does It Benefit Our Society?

We are living in one of the most furious times in history. Although neglected generally, many social cues support such an unfortunate claim. The amount of road rage in the present decade would have been unimaginable if people from the early twentieth century witnessed the occurrence compared to what it was like back then— police were involved in mediating complaints about bypasser’s imprudent behaviors to the horses of some precautious carriage-riders. Explanations derived from psychologists excused this peaking trend of infuriation by blaming the ever-advancing technology and the potential hazards that people years ago weren’t exposed to. Yet, we are dealing with daily; such as long work hours, job insecurity, financial strain, and cyberbullying. Anger as a necessary emotion to detect risky situations, avoid injuries, and transmit distress signals to others in the area become increasingly useful in a complicated, stressful world. Nonetheless, people who reckon anger became so common that it emerged or became involved in times that didn’t warrant its activation. The exploitation and mishandling of anger in society often produce more harm than good. It does little beyond showcasing an ugly temper and an unstable disposition without addressing the core of the conflict or dissatisfaction.

Rage rooms, invented in 2008, first opened with the mission statement of creating a safe space to prevent unleashing violence on innocent victims and to provide people with the optimal space to take out their aggressions by smashing painless, recycled items within a paid hour session. It resembled anger management but with a twist—and a sledgehammer. Ranging from old televisions, glassware, tables, and cabinets, anything that householders throw out in one intact piece could be sold to these businesses for destructive purposes. However, as time progressed, these facilities served as a form of entertainment more than a therapeutic approach as one of the rage room managers, Steve Shew, described a renovation experience that inspired him to take on his current position. It came with the realization that “Destroying things is kind of fun... people are probably stressed out and want to smash some printers too.”

Why have the targeted consumers changed from prevalent patients suffering from anger attacks to anyone who seeks thrilling experiences? Does this indicate that those who actively vent their irritability have found no improvement in anger regulation and resort to forfeiting such a treatment method due to its lack of effectiveness? What researchers and testimonies have shown was that rage rooms do contribute to releasing anger safely as the coordinators demand mandatory safety equipment as a part of customer dressing while they are utilizing the space. The restriction is that this instant comfort appears to be only effective for minor anger or single-episode temperamental issues, making it better suited for lower-stress audiences rather than as a treatment for severe or chronic anger problems. Shew acknowledged the establishment of these rooms was not replacing the consultations with psychologists and therapists; if people have serious trouble they should go see “proper treatment,” which subtly denoted that using rage rooms as a primary source of anger control is inadequate and dangerous to some extent. The business owner realized the potential of exacerbated repercussions and the damage of permanently closing his industrial unit if things go wrong (it’s more profitable for him to lose some customers than bear possible legal consequences in knowing previous customers could be turned into miscreants if misusing the room). In terms of the repercussions, if people consistently turn to violent expressions of anger, the chance of reinforcing aggressive behavior and normalizing societal acceptance of anger could increase to the point of escalating into other serious contexts.

What makes these rage rooms gain more negative connotations and opinions is not based on their capability to release bottled anger, but their ignorance of expressing anger in a non-violent way. It’s not only an aim to release anger but also to learn proper anger relief so that they know how to stay calm after experiencing stressful, annoying stimulations. In using rage rooms alone, people were only letting out anger by employing physical harm to useless properties and it by no means reduced their tendency to lash out against people in feeling irked or bothered since they were used to responding with futile, superficial acts of smashing and generating rough noises. Some other reasons that excluded rage rooms as a part of anger solution include:

1. James Averill, an American psychologist who discovered evidence supporting anti-violence tactics to improve mood regulation, stated, “Non-violent expressions of anger usually help people understand each other better.” His experiment showed that when an exasperated teenager pleaded to sleep later, the parents granted leniency as long as there was no use of brutal force on anything in the room and their child committed to improving their habits in the future. Even an angry wife who shrieks at her unloyal husband can induce productive conversations as long as the events don’t escalate into physical abuse.
2. According to the catharsis theory, feelings build up and pressurize until it’s vented. Just like a pressure cooker, aggression that’s held too long will eventually surface as a form of dangerous, regretful action. Upon repeatedly dealing with anxiety and anger that’s associated with annihilating behavior, it produces mental conditioning of the same reaction for even small irksome matters. People will develop a greater tendency to destruction, desperately seeking the fast, transient pleasure of releasing the anger immediately.
3. Bio-hazardous material might be released into the air by breaking electronic waste. Objects like old televisions or lamps are known as e-waste; the dust and particles liberated from disintegrated wires, circuits, and compressed metals are cancerogenic if inhaled. With health concerns of accumulating neurotoxins like mercury and lead in the body, they may cause adverse pregnancy conditions (premature birth and miscarriage), disruption to the function of the nervous system, and provoke asthma incidences.
4. A study in Lowa State University from 2002 found that the worst advice to give people is to tell them to “imagine the offender’s face on a pillow or punching bag as they wallop at it.” In their demonstration that acting aggressively is not a way to plunge angry emotions, the team recruited six hundred participants from the university to induce feelings of anger and frustration by informing them another person had criticized their work in a disparaging manner rather than a constructive way. The bunch of agitated individuals were then divided into three groups testing different procedures trying to lower their anger levels.

• Under aggressive catharsis conditions, the group was told to think about that person while hitting a sandbag as hard as they wanted.
• The mental aggressive catharsis involves people imagining punching something while thinking about the person and their criticisms.
• For the controlled condition, people were asked to sit there for two minutes quietly, doing nothing. To see whether the angry emotion subsided after different strategies, the volunteers reassessed their emotions by “punishing” the critical culprit who had provided criticisms, subjecting them to loud blasting noises in their ears. Those who participated in aggressive catharsis blasted significantly louder than those who did nothing to lower their anger. While we cannot conclude the control group decreased their anger level, they, at the very least, have not exhibited an elevation unlike those who opted for emotional release by physical or mental envisions of aggression.

Even though ample evidence highlights rage rooms’ inefficacy in resolving anger problems, should people just avoid these locations altogether?

Clinical doctor Scott Bea concluded, “It’s fine if you want to go have fun with it, but I don’t think it’s particularly therapeutic.” If people were truly struggling with anger control, these rage rooms would not be considered a viable option. There are many other healthy coping alternatives like stillness, contemplation, and detachment from emotions that may be a more effective method of handling anger. The more people find pores in others (perhaps it is their problems), the more the feeling intensifies and if taking any further action to confirm people’s conflicting status, the feeling of dislike would soon culminate into hatred and loath, a much stronger aversion than before that bound to end as a deplorable decision. What rage rooms are currently missing is the independent service of calming someone down in addition to exposing customers to anger so they can leave with less if not without anger compared to when they first entered. When people gather enough confidence and reassurance to know they can regain calmness as feelings are getting out of hand, the act of smashing and physical tantrums will only be responsible for creating a controlled scenario of being exposed to anger. Once in the uncontrolled real world, people are trained to become aware of their exploding emotions and are capable of recognizing different ways to cope with anger instead of using violence as one of their coping mechanisms.

References:

“Must-Know Anger Statistics [Recent Analysis] • Gitnux.” GITNUX, 6 Jan. 2024, gitnux.org/anger-statistics.

Burkeman, Oliver. “The Age of Rage: Are We Really Living in Angrier Times?” The Guardian, 11 May 2019, www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/11/all-fired-up-are-we-really-living-angrier-times.

Bennett, Kevin. “Rage Rooms Not a Good Idea.” https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/modern-minds /201703/rage-rooms-not-good-idea, 30 Mar. 2017.

“The Hazard of Electronic Waste in “Rage Rooms.” https://dtsc.ca.gov/the-hazard-of-electronic-waste- in-rage-rooms/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2024.

Electronic Waste (E-waste). 18 Oct. 2023, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/electronic-waste- (e-waste).

“Why The Cathartic Approach to Anger Management Doesn’t Work.” https://www.changeit.co.nz/why-the- cathartic -approach-to-anger-management-doesnt-work/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2024.

Clinic, Cleveland. “Rage Rooms: Do They Offer Anger Relief or Reinforce Bad Behavior?” Cleveland Clinic, 8 Dec. 2023, health.clevelandclinic.org/anger-rooms-do-they-offer-relief-or-reinforce-bad-behavior.

Services, U. S. Department Of Health And Human. Anger Management for Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Clients: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Manual (Updated 2019). Lulu.com, 2019, books. google.ie/books?id=AxXBDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Anger+management+for+substance+use+and +mental+clients&hl=&cd=1&source=gbs_api.