The scream club as therapy goes viral: ‘There is a lot of skepticism, but when people experience it they see how transformative it can be’

In the film 2019 Midsommar, there’s a scene where actress Florence Pugh screams and cries uncontrollably. The women in the cult where she’s trapped kneel beside her, mimicking her screams and sobs in unison. In doing so, they absorb her individual pain and transform it into a communal experience, a shared catharsis. In real life, the closest thing to this experience is scream clubs, a new wellness trend that brings together hundreds of people to scream together in a public space. It’s a free therapy that requires nothing more than pent-up frustration. The dynamic is simple: people gather, set an intention for the scream, breathe…

“I’m here because I work in the healthcare system,” “I’m here because, as a man, we’re constantly told we have to suppress our emotions,” “I’m here because I cry a lot, sometimes I feel really sad during the day, and I just wanted to talk to someone and make friends”... These are the voices of several people who recently gathered in London to scream. In just three days, more than 1,000 people joined the call launched on TikTok by 26-year-old Mona Sharif, who has 21,000 followers on the social platform, for a screaming meet-up. The practice was recommended to her by her psychologist in 2023, and after trying it with a friend in the countryside, it made her feel much better. “People are desperate, they want to talk to someone, they’re desperate to find a community. I, who don’t have that many followers, was able to gather thousands of people after just one video,” the organizer said in an interview with Metro UK last October.

Mona Sherif was inspired by Chicago’s Scream Club, a community that started last June and already has more than 10 locations in the United States, one in Puerto Rico, and another in the United Kingdom, boasting over 10,000 followers on Instagram. Its founders are Emanuel Hernandez, 41, from New Jersey and Elena Soboleva, 35, from Russia, a couple who, after a bad week, decided to release their pent-up emotions with a scream. “We were walking, and I asked Elena, ‘Do you want to go scream by the lake?’ and she said, ‘Yes, let’s do it. But I’m a little embarrassed if there are people around.’ I replied, ‘Don’t worry, if there are, I’ll just ask them if they want to join in,’” Hernandez recounts in a video call with EL PAÍS. The couple found the perfect spot to scream on the pier, but there were a few people there. “We told them, ‘Hey, sorry to bother you, but we’re about to scream. If you want to join in, you’re more than welcome.’” To their surprise, several decided to join in. “Some were crying, and that’s when Elena and I looked at each other and said, ‘We should start doing this.’”

It was no coincidence that Hernandez suggested screaming to his girlfriend. For several years he has practiced breathwork, a conscious breathing technique to relax the nervous system, reduce stress, and release emotions. “Breathing induces a state of homeostasis, connects you with the other nervous system, the one for rest and digestion, and deactivates the part of the brain responsible for the ego. For once, the only thing you focus on is your breathing,” he says. He leads these types of therapies and explains the dynamics of the group classes: “I start talking to you about some sensitive topics, things to reflect on. Many emotions surface, and at some point, when you’re in that extreme state... the screaming comes out.”

Screaming to release tension works. “People feel calmer afterward,” says Paola Diéguez, a psychologist specializing in Gestalt psychotherapy. “When a person screams, the sympathetic nervous system is activated, and at that moment the brain orders the release of adrenaline. Once this is circulating, it allows the release of all the accumulated energy and tension we have inside our bodies. After screaming, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated, which gives us a feeling of relief or relaxation; our breathing becomes deeper and slower, our heart rate decreases, and we are left with a sense of emotional tranquility,” she explains.

Hernandez believes the reason their club has gone so viral is because “screaming at the top of your lungs in public is taboo; people don’t usually do that. And the fact that we’ve given people permission to do it is why it’s so popular.” Soboleva adds, “We want to make sure that what we do is totally intentional. It’s not just about screaming uncontrollably and then going crazy. It’s not performative either: Our mission is simply to raise awareness about mental health, because once we explored it, we saw how many people needed this space for release.”

The club’s first event was in June of this year, with only five people attending, but in recent editions they’ve gathered up to 200 participants. One of the attendees is Maitane López, the Spanish footballer who signed with Atlético de Madrid and in 2023 crossed the ocean to join the NJ/NY Gotham FC. Last September, the player uploaded a video of her experience at the Scream Club to her Instagram profile, where she has over 92,000 followers. “Imagine you’re having a rough day and you want to scream, right? Sometimes, when I’m having a ‘mixed’ day, as I call it, I feel like screaming. I started looking online and found a club for people who want to do it, so we’re going to check it out,” the reel, which has over 45,000 views, begins. “We’re going to stand here and shout,” she says, on the shore of Lake Michigan at North Avenue Beach, the spot where the club meets in Chicago every Sunday to scream. Then, on a piece of biodegradable paper, she writes the intention of the shout and throws it into the water. Hernandez and Soboleva then begin the countdown, “3, 2, 1… AHHHHHHHH,” comes one of the three shouts they do together. When they finish, she claps and celebrates with more shouts, but this time, shouts of joy: “WOOOOOO! Okay, I love it!” the player concludes.

The sessions have been attended by five-year-old children accompanied by their parents, and by men up to 80 years old. But the couple especially remembers one of the participants, who has attended about 18 of the 20 sessions they’ve organized. At the last event, they saw him cry for the first time, and he sought comfort in Hernandez’s arms. “Actually, this man was a musician who initially attended the club because he wanted to work on his voice and vocal cords. But over time, it ended up becoming a form of emotional release therapy,” Soboleva recalls.

“We often have pent-up emotions that we haven’t been able to express,” explains psychologist Diéguez in an interview with this newspaper. “They don’t have to be recent; it could be something that made me angry or hurt me months or years ago, and through shouting, one can connect with that feeling and release that emotion which, even if we didn’t express it at the time, remains stored in the body. It also helps with emotional catharsis.”

There are increasing numbers of activities to release all the emotions we accumulate hroughout the day. Throwing axes, destroying objects in an “rage room,” or screaming are some creative alternatives for those looking for other ways to release stress, anger and tension. “Undoubtedly, there’s a lot of skepticism at first, but when people experience it for themselves, they see how transformative it can be and how beneficial it can be for their nervous system,” summarizes Soboleva.

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