Nigerians find new way to cope with stress as rage rooms become popular

In Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, people are finding their reset button in a “rage room” where they pay to smash electronics and furniture with a sledgehammer as a break from the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

The Shadow Rage Room, apparently the first of its kind in Nigeria, offers “a safe space” for people to let out pent-up emotions.

For 7,500 naira ($5 US dollars), customers are left alone with protective gear and a sledgehammer or bat in a room for a 30-minute session with the items that are later recycled.

At the end of one session of smashing, Olaribigbe Akeem, comes out sweating but relieved and visibly happy.

He says: "While I was smashing, a lot was running through my mind, like the current status of living in Nigeria has gone high. You have to battle with a lot of things: cost of feeding, transportation, and all that. Then my take home cannot actually take me home, you know? So there's a lot to be venting for.”

Lagos is an overcrowded city of about 20 million people and a magnet for those seeking better opportunities.

Daily stressors include traffic jams, notorious for trapping drivers for hours in the heat, and smog.

At times, people come in for recreation but find something more.

"This is my smashing experience is going to raise the bar for my mental alertness up to 1,000 plus because I'd let go of some bad vents, anger, stress, issues. So, this is like re-energizing myself to be ready to face some other issues coming so I feel renewed," says Akeem.

Dr. James Babajide Banjoko is the owner of the Shadow Rage room, the idea came during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 after he lost his mother and struggled with work.

The entrepreneur is also a physician and stresses the Rage Room is not a replacement for therapy, but that a session in the space can start a therapy journey.

"Most people lash out on people all of a sudden because they have this anger in them that has been built up over time," he says.

"What we are saying is, come after all these pent-up emotions to the shadow rage room and come and try it out. If it works for you, I mean we’ve seen it work for some people, this is not like a joke, people break down. We've actually sent people to therapy from the rage room and some people just come for fun," says Dr Banjoko.

"A rage room is not a therapy session; however, your therapy session can begin or end with a rage room. What we do here is to help people discover that sometimes therapy is needed, and this happens a lot of time after their session," he adds.

Rage rooms aren't new in other parts of the world. There is no documented evidence of their mental health benefits beyond the momentary relief that comes with venting your feelings.

Some Nigerians have turned to social media platforms like Tiktok as a way to cope with stress, others find support in communities wherever they can, from the church or mosque to the gym.

Mental health services remain unaffordable for many in Africa's most populous country, where 40 percent of citizens live below $2 US dollars per day.

So maybe half an hour of getting in touch with your primal rage is a good way to unwind.