When’s the last time you yelled at the top of your lungs?
Letting out a scream can be cathartic — and according to proponents, it can also relieve stress, relax muscle tension and increase your energy.
But unless you live in the middle of nowhere, there’s not a lot of opportunity to truly let loose without looking insane, worrying your neighbors, and potentially putting your job in jeopardy.
That’s why Powershout invented The Shoutlet, a “portable voice suppression device” — that is, a small pillow made from high-density memory foam — to give everyone an outlet for their most unhinged urges to scream.
According to the brand, The Shoutlet is like a stress ball — but you yell into it instead of squeezing it. The idea is that screaming has a lot of benefits for stress relief, and lower stress also means better overall health.
The company says shouting is an “instant mood lifter,” triggering the release of endorphins, reducing feelings like irritability and hopelessness, and relaxing clenched muscles.
The science on it is light, but “scream therapy” — also called primal scream therapy — is, in fact, a thing. It was unvented in the ’70s by psychotherapist Dr. Arthur Janov, who argued that it could help with repressed childhood trauma. (He also treated John Lennon and Yoko Ono.)
More recently, “rage rooms” have popped up to give people a chance to get out their feelings, including through screaming.
“The idea of catharsis is very popular, and rage rooms are linked to the idea of ‘letting off steam,’” Dr. Sarita Robinson, deputy head of psychology and computer science at the UK’s University of Central Lancashire, told The Independent. “We intuitively feel that releasing our rage should help us to achieve a sense of balance and allow us to regulate our emotions.”
But, she noted, the research on it is mixed.
“In some cases, acting aggressively in order to release negative emotions can actually makes us feel worse. In fact, by using a ‘rage room,’ you could be conditioning yourself to become aggressive the next time you feel stressed, angry or frustrated.”
Dr. Rebecca Semmens-Wheeler, a senior lecturer in psychology at Birmingham City University in the UK, is also iffy on screaming for stress relief — though she’s not writing it off entirely.
“[It] is kind of the opposite with what you’re doing with things like meditation or yoga, which is usually activating the parasympathetic nervous system that helps you to slow down, take stock, let the prefrontal cortex get some glucose again … and helps us to make better decisions,” she told The Guardian.
“I’m quite skeptical about potential benefits, especially in the long term. [But] if you want to do it for a laugh, why not? Maybe you’ll feel good for a few minutes.”
So does it actually work? The New York Post’s very own scream queens (and king) put it to the test.
Scream therapy in action
Scream after scream, the mood in The Post’s studio was a bit giddy, with wellness reporter McKenzie Beard admitting that she felt “a little silly” but “pretty happy” after letting loose.
Lifestyle social media editor Ella Zeiler said she felt a “release” after muffling her own yell in the pillow, while wellness reporter Diana Bruk reported less stress immediately after, comparing it to a mini yoga session.
“I feel a little weird, but I thought I’d feel more awkward,” entertainment reporter Eric Todisco said, adding that “things had to come out that were just waiting to come out.”
Lifestyle reporter Marissa Motozzo, too, was surprised that it made her feel a lot better.
And for the voice suppression?
All seven screamers — and the film crew — were surprised that the pillows truly did dampen the noise, including when compared to a regular pillow.
“I feel like I could scream in my room and my roommates wouldn’t come thinking I was murdered,” joked lifestyle reporter Adriana Diaz.
“I could probably do that in my apartment without people calling the cops,” Bruk added.
“It really dampened the noise,” noted social media editor Heather Harkins. “So I guess if I wanted to cry by myself I could.”
If you want to try it for yourself, The Shoutlet sells for $29.99, but entering code NYPOST will get you $5 off at checkout.
