Why Iceland wants you to send in your screams of frustration

If the COVID-19 pandemic has left you frustrated, Iceland has come up with a novel solution to help alleviate some of the stress. It is asking people around the world to record their screams of frustration online, and it will release them into some of its most remote locations via huge speakers.

It might sound strange, but the initiative is based on primal therapy, which operates on the principle that screaming can offer a sense of relief from frustration and anxiety by releasing pent-up emotion inside you. Iceland’s tourism board is behind the initiative, which is called ‘Let It Out.’ It says that Iceland's beautiful, wide-open spaces are the perfect place for people to vent their frustrations. If people record their screams via a website, Iceland will release them in locations like the peak of Festarfjall in Reykjanes Peninsula, Videy island in Reykjavik and the Skógarfoss waterfall.

Screaming as a therapeutic tool was developed in the 1970s as a way to release pent-up emotion," says psychotherapist Zoe Aston. "What we don’t realise is that the psychological response to wanting to scream lights up a part of our brains called the amygdala. The amygdala activates when we are under threat, something we have all experienced in the past few months. Part of the beneficial effect of screaming comes from being able to make a loud noise into a wide, open, undisturbed space. This literally allows your amygdala to release the stress stored there and move forward."

To learn more out more about the Let It Out scheme, please visit the website here.

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