Rage rooms are meant to be a lighthearted way to smash things and release some stress. But every now and then, what comes out isn’t just anger, it’s something a lot darker, or at least deeply concerning.
That’s exactly what happened when someone on Reddit asked: “Rage room employees, what’s the craziest ‘oh my god, this person needs actual professional help’ thing you’ve seen in one of the rooms?” The answers didn’t just come from staff, but also from others who witnessed or heard about unsettling incidents. From emotional breakdowns to disturbing outbursts, these stories reveal that not everyone goes in just to break a few plates. Keep reading to see the most shocking ones.
#1
Had a guy who brought photos of his ex-wife and kids to tape on stuff before smashing it while screaming at them.
We banned him immediately. That’s not therapy, that’s practice.
Image source: GothiccMommyx, peoplecreations/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#2
I AM the professional help and I have used a rage room once after dealing with a very traumatic, soul crushing case involving a child. I obviously couldn’t hurt the offender in the situation, so I went to a rage room. It was very cathartic for me to get out all of the internal rage at the injustices I encounter on a regular basis in my line of work and it allowed me to stay out of jail or prison and keep helping people.
Image source: Annie_Ominous_2020, kues1/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#3
I worked at one for about a year in college and the weirdest thing I ever saw was this guy who came in alone, super quiet, refused music or anything. We gave him the usual setup with bottles, bats, crowbars, all that.
He goes in… and just sits on a pile of bottles. Doesn’t touch a thing. Just stares at the wall for like 20 minutes straight. Then out of nowhere he stands up, organizes all the plates by size, sweeps the floor spotless like he’s on shift, bows to the security camera, and walks out without saying a single word.
We all watched the footage later and couldn’t decide if he needed therapy, an exorcist, or maybe a job on the cleaning crew.
Image source: Brilliant-Corgi-5654, lgolubovystock/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#4
Woman came in and spent 3 hours methodically destroying everything while having a full conversation with her dead mother, asking for forgiveness and sobbing. We didn’t charge her but definitely suggested grief counseling instead.
Image source: NeroEnjoyerr, EyeEm/ Freepik (not the actual photo)
#5
Someone going *way too hard* on a printer—like it was personally responsible for every bad day at the office.
Image source: Plus-Breakfast-6125, Freepik (not the actual photo)
#6
Wife and I had free tickets to one followed by dinner.
The dinner place cancelled on us last minute, and we spent most of our rage room time trying to book a new dinner place. We decided to give up and just have a Mcdonald’s date afterwards; decided it was time to actually enjoy the room – only to realise:
1. We have about 5 minutes left and
2. The employees were watching us through the little door window with strange looks
We decided to use the rest of our time to f**k with them, so we just pretended to drink from some of the glasses in the room, despite there being no water in them.
When time was up we stood up, smashed our cups on the ground and left. We had a really, really good time at Mcdonald’s eating and laughing at how insane we must’ve looked.
Image source: lifesnotperfect, Freepik (not the actual photo)
#7
Not an employee but participant in the rage room: did this for my birthday one year with 3 coworkers. We are all in the military. We turned the computer monitor into dust, all the glass bottles into powder and ended up breaking a bat, a golf club, and a crow bar. Worth every penny.
Image source: murdermuffin626, vvoennyy/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#8
I put in my dad’s construction boots and stomped the s**t out of the dumb wedding cake topper my ex husband picked
Felt invigorating.
Image source: JeezBeBetter, EyeEm/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#9
We went for a work activity and I asked the workers what the weirdest thing they ever saw was. A couple came in with 10-15 wedding photos of themselves, lined them up around the room interspaced with other stuff, and just bashed the hell out of all of them and then hugged each other at the end and were both crying when they left.
Image source: chokabloc, aishazeyn/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#10
Not an employee but I went with my best friend after numerous unprocessed events. We broke everything, naturally. At some point I blacked out, we ran out of paid materials, I just started taking a hammer to the table, until it was literally wedged in and the table was dismembered. Literally shards of wood everywhere. Hands were bleeding despite the gloves lol. Table was Made out of really really thick wood.
We finally walk out, smiling, relieved. The employee was white washed and shocked. Said our time session ended over a 1/2 an hour ago, but when he checked the cameras and saw the table action, he figured he’d let it play out and get fatigued rather quick. Until we didn’t.
He then said he’s been there for 2 years, never seen anyone turn on the table in the same regard. Recommended therapy. And gave me a punch card for future visits.
I’m 115, petite female. The table was as long as me. LOL.
Image source: exsistence_is_pain_, denishipunov/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#11
Not an employee, but watched a woman spend five full minutes hugging a printer before she finally smashed it,then whispered “Im sorry” to every single piece. Room went dead quiet.
Image source: Mother_Soraka, Freepik (not the actual photo)
#12
A mom brought her 9th grade son in to smash stuff. He was hesitant at first but then mom kept saying, “think of all the kids that have bullied you. Pretend they’re the vcr/bottle/printer/.” He got a good little smash in. Like to think mom used that as a way to prevent her son from being a school shooter.
Image source: Korben_Multi_Pass, user17067123/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#13
One woman brought in a framed wedding photo and went absolutely feral on it with a bat. We just stood there like… yeah, this is above our pay grade.
Image source: BlushEnchantress, asphotostudio/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#14
Not me but someone I know. Apparently some guy walked in and told them they might want to cover their ears. They told him it’s fine, they’re used to it. He just kind of shrugged and went in and spent like one minute looking like he was pumping himself up then let out this horrible roar that must have lasted about 10 seconds. They didn’t know a human could produce a sound like that, everyone jumped. They say they felt it inside them, like their whole body was vibrating. He apparently clove a table in two with the baseball bat in one hit then threw the bat away so hard it embedded itself into a wall and he just started throwing the pieces of the things he broke around as hard as he could. Apparently, when the time was up, he was not okay at all. He was spasming and barely coherent. After he’d managed to calm down a bit he got his stuff, gave them a curt thanks and goodbye and left.
Image source: LeGrandLucifer, kues1/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#15
At the rage room I went to, I asked the guy about his strangest experiences. He said that he’s always unnerved by anyone who smashes the stuff up in complete silence, but the worst were the disturbingly large number of people who requested ‘child-size mannequins’ to destroy.
Image source: geese_moe_howard, Freepik (not the actual photo)
#16
Regular customer started carving his coworker’s name into the walls with broken glass while muttering about “making them pay.”.
Image source: MistressMommyx, stockking/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#17
Took my son and his gf of 12 months to a rage room. She spent her time writing all her ex’s names on plates and smashing them.
Image source: laitnetsixecrisis, EyeEm (not the actual photo)
#18
There was this lady who screamed at a stack of old TVs like they were her in-laws. I half expected her to start throwing the remotes! Someone get her an appointment.
Image source: vodkalovergirl, Freepik (not the actual photo)
#19
Not an employee, but went to one and my cousin cut her entire hand open, almost lost all her fingers. There was blood EVERYWHERE.
Image source: bbookish, rawpixel.com/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#20
My sister, Sam, took our youngest sister, Laney, after she found out her ex cheated. Sam hit some glass so hard it went through her clothes. It made a cut so deep she had to go to urgent care and stitches on her shin. She was wearing the overalls they provided lol.
Image source: vivid-blanket, DC Studio/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#21
I haven’t personally worked at a rage room, but I have a friend who managed one for about two years, and some of that stories she told me were… intense.
The one that stuck with me most: A guy came in and instead of hitting anything, he just sat in the corner talking to the mannequin they had set up. Not yelling at it or anything – having a full conversation like it was responding back. He did this for his entire 30-minute session. When my friend checked the security footage later, she realized he’d been having what seemed like a really detailed argument with his ex-girlfriend, using the mannequin as a stand-in.
Another regular pattern she noticed: People who would come in multiple times per week and get increasingly… methodical about their destruction. Like, they’d develop these elaborate rituals or sequences. One woman would always arrange all the breakable items in a specific pattern before smashing them, muttering the same phrases every time.
The policy changes: After a few months, they had to implement some screening questions and actually started partnering with a local therapist who could provide referrals. T00 many people were clearly using it as a substitute for actual mental health care rather than just stress relief.
What surprised her most: It wasn’t the angry, violent-seeming people who were concerning. Those folks usually just needed to blow off steam and left feeling better. It was the quiet ones who seemed disconnected from reality or were clearly working through serious trauma that made her uncomfortable.
She ended up leaving that job partly because she felt like she was watching people who really needed professional help just… not getting it. The rage room became a band-aid instead of actual healing for some folks.
Have you been thinking about trying one out, or just curious about the behind-the-scenes stuff?
Image source: Curious_Culture1062, EyeEm/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#22
I saw a guy bring in a framed picture of his ex and just destroy it piece by piece. Everyone working that day was side-eyeing each other.
Image source: HardHatHustle, EyeEm/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#23
JFC. I’m looking for myself in these comments. A year ago last week, I worked through some s**t in a rage room and ended up in the ER with 8 stitches. 🤦♀️.
Image source: MrsToneZone, EyeEm/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#24
I made one for my sister and our family at home when she’d been diagnosed with terminal cancer. We did it on an open cement roof with a bunch of old pottery. It was the best.
Image source: No-Writer-1101, pixel-shot.com/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#25
I don’t believe this person ever came to our business but here’s an email we received: “Hello. I have rage to release. Mind you l am on mental watch etc. I am no danger to living being. Legal reasons I am seriously mentally ill. But I am no danger to any living being but. I keep that status for legal reasons. I want a room where I can destroy scare crows dressed as living beings. You can face then how ever you like. The first reason me being here is meeting a lady in a video game called…. Knight Online, many gamers who plays the favorite. Game now are from that game i cannot recall. During updates we had scare crows to test our strengths compare to player who might have unique items. Also had battle grounds to test our items and levels
I need a room with items to smash and scare crows as well, you can face them however you like. I want a Bluetooth connection to speakers and various weapons from sword or hammer like. as I am a wariror(tank type). If this can be arranged and how much it would cost each session. Please look into Kinght online and get familiar with characters in the game. Hint point, my ex was a mage female..
Please give me an estimate for each session can cost. I will reply with leadt once a month or twice depended on your price. Piz make sure there are items to smash like final fight. I will book you depending on your price or your regular room. You might save me from counselor maybe from medications” Very sad for this individual, but jfc.
Image source: CarobSpiritual1008, Freepik (not the actual photo)
#26
Not a worker, but when I went to one a worker told us that a 14 year old girl took a crowbar to the walls, and started to pry out the whole wall. 🥴.
Image source: 14themoney24theroad, Freepik (not the actual photo)
#27
Had a young lad entering the room a few months back. On first glance he looked like a really calm person, even the way he spoke gave me no impression that he had anger issues, if anything he was a modern gentleman, even dressed like one as well, which left me a bit surprised wondering “what is a person like him doing here?”, so I falsely assumed that he arrived just for the experience of it, you know, to have a few laughs breaking things, something he wouldn’t be able to do under any other circumstances. So I gave him all the equipment he wanted, and at the moment he entered the room, my eyes had locked on to him, my curiosity wouldn’t calm down at all, I wanted to see for myself how would he interact with the items. So anyways, there he was, standing still for almost 20 seconds, then taking a really deep breath, as if he was bracing for impact, then Lord Almighty, I had seen everything, he let out such a loud scream, followed by a baffling fit of rage, I got startled so fast that I almost fell from my own chair.
There he was, smashing everything into pieces as if there was no tomorrow, each swing of the bat more ferocious than the previous, adrenaline off the roof, and all the time, that child-like deafening scream he was letting out, I even started to think “how tough is his neck to scream like that for so long”, it was as if screaming was part of his life. And he was STILL going at it, then there was an old speaker about his size, before he hit it, he started huffing and puffing so violently I thought he was about to have a heart attack, and as he was hyperventilating, trust me when I say this, he was SALIVATING as well, you could see it leaking from his mouth, like a bulldog, then my curiosity simply turned into utter fear, he was smashing everything as if he was blinded (literally) by rage.
So about the speaker, he put so much force into it, so much anger, that most of its components went flying across the room like a frag bomb. After a few minutes, from the rage he bathed himself in, he suddenly stopped on the spot, like you plugged him off or something, took a deep breath again then switched back to that Soothing Gentle like personality.
He exited the room and saw my worried face, he simply said: “I apologise for anything that I may have done in that room, but I had to”, then i couldn’t help it and asked him for context regarding that…rage. He said “no worries, I’ll tell you”, turns out, he had found his older sister crying uncontrollably on the floor the day before and rushed to her, he asked her what’s wrong, and she told him that her boyfriend dumped her, not because their relationship was bad, but because during an argument her boyfriend caused by some major mistake he did, “he wanted to assert his dominance as a man to her”, something like a display of power, however she didn’t really saw that the same way and blocked him because, well, she had enough of him, a few hours later, he had broke in her apartment building and also attempted to break into her floor as well, luckily her mother was there as well and called the cops on him. That’s all i know, as for his rage, it has plenty of layers, from seeing his heartbroken sister, to hearing about a lunatic trying to hurt her. Man, that day was something else, at least i had a smile on my face when he said that they filed a restraining order against whoever that unstable dude was.
Image source: Mundane_Curiosity03, EyeEm/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#28
Not an employee but I know of someone who broke a toilet in a rage room and then promptly bled out after they got cut with the porcelain. I’m honestly surprised this hasn’t happened more often.
Image source: whaletacochamp, EyeEm/Freepik (not he actual photo)
#29
One of my roommates just brought a brand new bat home. This batis so dented and curved from the rage room he used it in…
Image source: Unhappy_Mountain9032, jcomp/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#30
That would be me, bat in hand, walking slowly around the room looking at everything, sitting down for a couple minutes, and then leaving. Somehow it’s the idea that I *could* break a bunch of stuff if I wanted to, and knowing that is extremely satisfying. I’m careful with my stuff and keep it working long, long after it should have died. Hell, my phone is 7 years old, my car is 26…why would I get rid of something just because it doesn’t work?!
Image source: fleener_house, EyeEm/Freepik (not the actual photo)
#31
When I was younger, my therapist had a rage room in his office that we could use if we felt like we needed it. One time, during group therapy, one of the guys asked to use it. Apparently, he went in there and just cried. Not little, bitty weeping but full on gnashing of teeth s**t.
Afterwards, he came out and said, “okay, I think I can talk about it now.”.
Image source: BoneDragon5077, Freepik (not the actual photo)
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