Rage Room
Instead of traditional happy hours, more and more companies are setting aside “rage rooms” for employees to release their stress and crush whatever comes their way.
On your 35th birthday, Deja Monet decided he wanted to break something — literally. A special education teacher at a New York high school spent the afternoon at The Ragery, a “rage room” on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the break dishesan old computer monitor and a keyboard with a sledgehammer.
For Monet, the target of his frustration was not his students, but the increasing pressures of the job: endless paperwork, constantly changing lesson plans, and frequent assessments. After a few tentative strokes, he found himself getting into a rhythm, imagining the frustrations of the workplace before each stroke. At the end of the session, the room appeared to have “suffered an explosion“, she tells The experience left her calm, at least temporarily.
Places like rage rooms and ax throwing studios are nothing new, but they are seeing renewed interest as work stress increases. Many employees face layoffs, job insecurity and ever-increasing job demands, creating a new market to places where people can physically release frustration.
With people drinking less and less alcohol, the traditional “happy hour” is slowly disappearing. Rage rooms are now becoming one of the most attractive alternatives for companies. At The Ragery, the corporate bookings more than doubled compared to last year, according to co-owner Bogdan Zhukovskyi.
“The digitalization of our lives leaves us with a desire for something more practical, almost barbaricto quench this inner thirst,” said Roman Lupu, co-owner of The Ragery together with Zhukovskyi.
Individual sessions range from about $78 for 15 minutes of destroying a few objects to over $500 for a 45-minute “VIP Experience” where participants can demolish a complete office simulation.
Customers often personalize the experience by bringing photographs or objects that represent workplace irritations. Zhukovskyi recalls colleagues who pasted photographs of their bosses on objects before destroying them, while one visitor even shredded printed emails during a session.
Experts warn, however, that while breaking objects may feel satisfying at the moment, it can not reducing anger in the long term. Practices such as mindfulness, breathing exercises and yoga are generally considered more effective for managing stress.
“This keeps the angry thoughts on the surfacecausing you to repress them, because you end up acting in accordance with them. If you are using this as a strategy to control your anger, it could end up exacerbating your feelings of anger and making you more aggressive”, considers Ryan Martin, psychologist and author of several books on anger management, known as “the Anger Professor”.
Still, for many people, the interest lies in newness and physical liberation. Younger workers, in particular, are looking for more intentional ways to connect with colleagues outside of the office, often through active experiences rather than traditional happy hours.
For Monet, the birthday tour offered so much a way to relieve stress as a memorable experience shared with her boyfriend. She’s not sure if this will become a regular habit, but she understands the appeal.
“I see it as an alternative for people who want to find other ways to express their emotions in a positive way”, he concludes.
