Rage rooms are all the rage right now

What you probably already know: Therapy is expensive. So is taking out your anger on a wall. In cities across the U.S. (and around the world), so-called “rage rooms” offer an alternative where guests can vent their pent-up emotions in a safe space. Customers are given protective clothing and a room filled with things to break using tools like baseball bats. Did your boss ask you to work late yet again? A rage room acts as an emotional outlet, letting you smash the sh*t out of an old computer monitor (or a TV, car windshield, etc.) without consequences (or cleanup. The concept reportedly originated in Japan in 2008 before going global several years later. Demand for rage rooms is now skyrocketing, and women are driving the trend. 

Why? UK-based media outlet The Times reports bookings at one rage room surged 219% over the last year. Another similar business saw a 150% increase compared to 2024, with women accounting for 90% of customers. Research offers a possible explanation: Women are angrier. A BBC analysis of global Gallup polling data found that women and men reported similar levels of stress and anger in 2012, but nine years later, 26% of women reported being angry compared to 20% of men. Women were also more stressed. “Women today are carrying unprecedented levels of mental load, sensory overload, and emotional responsibility,” says Erica Mallery, a wellness coach and the founder of ShameOver, a program that helps women reduce drinking and process emotions rather than suppress them. “It’s not that women suddenly ‘became angry.’ It’s that we’re overwhelmed, overstimulated and expected to stay composed through all of it. That mismatch creates pressure that needs somewhere to go.” 

What it means: Women are increasingly feeling chronically overloaded, but they don’t have enough free time with which to recover, says Krista Walker, a licensed therapist and the clinical director of The Ohana Luxury Addiction Treatment Center. Other factors at play include hormonal changes such as those associated with perimenopause that can lead to increased irritability and anger, as well as inequitable caregiving responsibilities and sleep disruption, which can dramatically impact a person’s ability to cope with emotions. The fallout can be systemic. “It can look like more conflict in relationships,” Walker says. “There may be workplace consequences, including burnout. Many women internalize shame when they feel angry. This can worsen depression.” 

How we're raised may also influence our ability to process anger. While boys are traditionally permitted to be loud and express frustration, girls learn to internalize it and often aren’t given emotional outlets or coping mechanismsallery. “Anger is simply activation in the body,” Mallery says. “If that activation doesn’t move through, it gets stuck and turns into anxiety, resentment, shutdown, or numbing behaviors like overdrinking.” When women who suppress anger reach a breaking point, a rage room becomes an attractive option because it offers a physical outlet where they can complete a stress cycle — or “release trapped activation” — without judgment or shame. “This isn’t just ‘smashing stuff,’” Mallery adds. “It’s a temporary space where women can experience an emotion they were never given permission to feel.” 

What happens next: In her line of work, Mallery sees women experiencing increasing levels of overstimulation, burnout, emotional suppression and pressure to hold everything together. Walker believes that issues with burnout and nervous system regulation will likely worsen. And while smashing things in a controlled environment is clearly cathartic for many women, Walker cautions that this alone isn’t the solution: “Therapy and education are also very important.”