Do not be afraid! Though it seems like you are underwater, you are not actually drowning. It is a virtual reality! (credit: Dr. Waldern/Virtuality Group)
Back in 2014, we were equal parts tickled and scared by the laundry list of legal-ese health warnings that accompanied the first consumer units of Samsung's Gear VR. The HTC Vive Pre comes with a booklet of Health and Safety Warnings that's largely similar, but HTC goes a bit further in warning about some surprisingly specific potential hazards of virtual reality.
The booklet includes the kind of boilerplate warnings you'd expect before using a device that requires physical activity: users should consult a doctor if they have a heart condition and/or are pregnant or elderly. But the Vive warnings booklet goes on to urge users with "psychiatric conditions (such as anxiety disorders or post-traumatic stress disorder)" to be cautious with the device:
"Content viewed using the product can be intense, immersive, and appear very life-like and may cause your brain and body to react accordingly. Certain types of content (e.g. violent, scary, emotional, or adrenaline-based content) could trigger increased heart rate, spikes in blood pressure, panic attacks, anxiety, PTSD, fainting, and other adverse effects. If you have a history of negative physical or psychological reactions to certain real life circumstances, avoid using the product to view similar content. (emphasis added)
That's not all that surprising, considering that doctors have been using virtual reality as an immersive PTSD treatment for years. Dr. Albert "Skip" Rizzo told Ars that even rudimentary, '90s-era VR was real enough for traumatized users to feel immersed in their memories:
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