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Champions of the Shengha (Pro)

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A biofeedback mobile intervention (game) that enables young people to self-manage stress, anxiety and frustration through emotional self-regulation

 
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Champions of the Shengha (Pro) trains young people in diaphragmatic breathing which helps them to regulate their emotions and become more resilient.

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  • For 9-18 year olds

  • Co-created with young people, guardians, teachers, clinicians, academics, game experts

  • Therapeutic basis: diaphragmatic breathing

  • Provides data securely through the VItaMind Hub

  • Available on Android and iOS

  • Uses a tiny heart rate sensor which comes in a fun game pack

Currently in UK, USA, NZ and Australia

For use via:

  • Schools

  • Children’s Mental Health Services

  • Acute care settings

  • Part of existing service provision

 

Meets highest standards in clinical safety & data security

CE marked
Class 1 medical device, registered with the MHRA

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Evidence

Building Resilience through Emotionally Responsive Gaming:
Findings from a biofeedback video game trial at St Angela’s Ursuline School

Playing with emotions:
Report on the Healthier Hackney’s 2015 grant for BfB Labs’ emotional regulation video game

Summary of 5 trials

Published write-up of the RCT

Key results:

84% of players able to reliably raise their HRV during focused breathing time, using techniques taught to reduce physiological signs of stress

3 in 4 players reported getting better at staying focused within the game

1 in 4 players reported applying these focusing techniques outside of the game by trial end

“When I’m in an argument I don’t feel right, I sometimes feel like I’m in a different planet, on a different world. When I did breathing I’d learnt in the game, I calmed down, came back to earth.”
— Young person, 15
 

Stress, anxiety, panic, depression, pain

Facts:

  • 1 in 10 young people experience a mental health disorder (Green et al 2005)

  • Over half of all mental ill health starts by age 14 and 75% develops by age 18 (Murphy and Fonagy 2012)

  • As a result, school learning, stress tolerance, confidence, motivation, personal relationships are adversely affected (Layard 2008)

  • Untreated anxiety or depression can have a significant impact on employment, income and relationship stability in adult life (Goodman Joyce and Smith 2011; Green et al 2005)
    Source

Covid19

In a survey by the mental health charity YoungMinds, which included 2111 participants up to age 25 years with a mental illness history in the UK:

  • 83% said the pandemic had made their conditions worse

NHS recommends doing diaphragmatic breathing to manage worries and self-manage emotions which enables a person to focus on the present, rather than worrying about the future, can help with difficult emotions and improve our wellbeing.

Diaphragmatic breathing

One simple preventative solution known to be helpful in regulating emotions is diaphragmatic breathing - a proven self-regulation technique. It stimulates the vagus nerve and activates the parasympathetic nervous system overseeing crucial bodily functions, including control of mood, immune response, heart rate) promoting the “rest and digest” state countering the “fight or flight” response.

The beneficial effects of stand-alone regulated diaphragmatic breathing have been widely recognised within the medical field and it is recommended as a relaxation technique by health organisations including the NHS and the mental health charity, Mind. 

Although effective, it is often difficult to engage young people in this technique due to it being obvious and relatively monotonous.

Champions of the Shengha is a safe and effective way of enabling young people to become aware of their emotions, how their emotions affect their physical state, and learn to use breathing techniques to improve their emotional state.