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App Lets You Destress By Screaming Into Icelandic Wilderness

View of Seltun geothermal field in Krysuvik on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland on July 5, 2014.
Joel Saget
/
AFP via Getty Images
View of Seltun geothermal field in Krysuvik on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland on July 5, 2014.

2020 has been a lot. And we're barely halfway through.

Luckily, there's Iceland. Or... lookslikeyouneediceland.com.

The Web app lets you release any pandemic-pent up frustration in the form of a scream, then broadcasts it from speakers in the Icelandic wilderness.

The ad campaign is from the group Promote Iceland, a collaboration between the government of Iceland and private institutions. It's designed to provide a little light-hearted relief and a gentle reminder of all the country has to offer (when it's safe to travel again).

As the site explains:

You've been through a lot this year and it looks like you need the perfect place to let your frustrations out. Somewhere big, vast and untouched. It looks like you need Iceland. Record your scream and we'll release it in Iceland's beautiful, wide-open spaces.

Once you've recorded your scream (or any audio really) you can send it to one of the seven speakers placed around the empty Icelandic countryside.

There are also some "screaming tips" from a mental health consultant on how to make the most of your therapeutic scream. For more serious issues, the site urges users to seek the support of a mental health professional.

And while Iceland is encouraging screaming (albeit virtually), there's a time and a place in the midst of a global pandemic. A newly reopened Japanese theme park suggests you "scream inside your heart" while on its rides, to avoid spreading coronavirus-carrying droplets.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Emily Alfin Johnson is a producer for NPR One.
Lisa Weiner is a line producer on Morning Edition. For NPR, she's covered the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and traveled to Ukraine to cover the Russian invasion in 2022. Prior to joining NPR, she held positions as an editor at WTOP-FM, as an engineer at Radio Free Asia and recorded audio books for the Library of Congress. Weiner has a master's degree in audio technology from American University. She got her start in radio working the late-night shift as a student DJ in the basement of WRUR-FM at the University of Rochester. Weiner has lived in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Budapest, Hungary.