Health : Stress Me Out, Will You? Zap!

After a day of listening to irate callers, Steve Lantz, community relations manager for the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, releases his frustrations by firing a death ray at the telephone.

When Kim Sanders, manager of a Van Nuys stereo store, hears one of her employees tell a bad joke, she makes him pay with a shower of missiles.

And Steve Elzer, a law and criminal justice student in Santa Barbara, gets even with inattentive drivers on the freeway by unloading a barrage of grenades from his dashboard.

Hot Gifts

These otherwise mild-mannered Southern Californians are finding that revenge can be instant and mess-free with one of this season’s best-selling gift items: sci-fi electronic noisemakers.

The battery-powered devices--marketed under such names as Terminator, Revenger, Equalizer and Zap!m--come in models for the key chain, belt and car dashboard. Most consist of a sleek box with a panel of buttons, each of which triggers a different sound. Push one, a light will flash, and the device produces a loud combat or high-tech tone--from the rapid “wah-wah” of the oscillating death ray to the descending wail and “ka-boom” of the missile launcher.

Ranging from $5 to $25, the noisemakers are being touted by manufacturers as the latest fad in stress-reduction gadgetry.

“It’s just a great emotional release,” said Harry Kronenberg, vice president of sales and marketing for St. Louis-based Hyman Products Inc., which has sold more than 1 million Terminators nationwide since last spring. “It’s the difference between watching a Rambo-style movie and being in it. You literally have World War III at your fingertips.”

That thrill was enjoyed recently by President-elect George Bush, who, despite plans for a kinder, gentler nation, unleashed a torrent of death rays on reporters at a November press conference.

And Johnny Carson, on a recent “Tonight Show,” borrowed one of the toys from a guest and delighted himself by pretending to let rip a few megatons of destruction.

Getting a Laugh

Said Elzer, the 26-year-old Santa Barbara student: “It’s a way of getting back at people without them even knowing. It’s a lot less confrontational, there’s no harm and you get a good laugh.”

That is not the view, however, of some anti-war activists such as Jerry Rubin, director of the Los Angeles Alliance for Survival. Rubin contends that they reinforce violent emotions and lend legitimacy to the idea of “nuking” a perceived perpetrator.

But, on balance, many stress-management experts say, such toys provide a relatively harmless, if only moderately effective, means for chaneling hostility. While none was aware of any clinical study, several psychologists said the zappers could provide a sense of empowerment over feelings of victimization.

“The noise gives us the fantasy that we can control events that really aren’t subject to our control,” said Stephen A. Kibrick, a Calabasas psychologist. “A fantasy outlet like that can provide a healthy release for aggressive feelings.”

Helen Grebow, president of the Los Angeles County Psychological Assn., expressed a bit more skepticism.

“This seems more like a toy, rather than a professional solution to a serious problem,” said Grebow, an Encino psychologist. “If it does work for a certain individual, it probably has more to do with that person than with the device.”

Not for Anyone

Consumer reporter David Horowitz, who took the noisemaker onto the Carson show, doesn’t recommend it for anyone.

“I wanted to show how this was a really stupid, meaningless toy, but Johnny took it and started zapping everyone,” said Horowitz, who, in 1987, was forced to read a rambling statement from a man wielding what turned out to be a toy gun during a live broadcast on KNBC-TV.

“He’s a comedian and can take these things with a sense of humor,” he added, “but when I see this negative stuff on the market . . . something that could be an implement of death . . . it really gets to me.”

Apparently, enough Christmas shoppers got to it first, buying out supplies at many gift and toy stores in the Los Angeles area. “It was, you know, different,” said J. R. Lavingia, owner of the Craft Faire in Glendale, where he sold out his stock of 120 in a few weeks.

Although the technology is nothing new--a small computer chip and a speaker--devotees of the devices say there is something about the strident “rat-a-tat-tat” screaming out of the tiny gadget that really satisfies.

“It makes me feel better,” said Sanders, the 25-year-old manager of Reggie Stereo, who also takes her noisemaker on the freeway. “Instead of, like, freaking out . . . or something, I blow them away and I end up laughing.”