Researchers at the University of Cambridge have been testing it in university students. They've shown that when people are on the boat, definitely their heart rate goes down. And then what happens when they go into the dungeon is a bit more mixed. So some people seem to be able to remember to do the breathing and it does reduce their heart rate. Other people are less able to kind of implement it in that stressful situation. The research is very clear that this would never be a replacement for traditional therapy.
Madeleine Finlay speaks to science correspondent Linda Geddes about trying out a virtual reality game that challenges you to keep your heart-rate down while facing a terrifying monster, why it could help with tackling anxiety, and whether the gamification of coping strategies could be the best way to integrate them into our every day lives. Help support our independent journalism at
theguardian.com/sciencepod