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How Pets Support Your Mental Health
Pet ER 24/7
Pets & Mental Health
You undoubtedly love your pets. They are a source of loads of entertainment and joy, but they may also be good for your physical and mental health. It’s true, nearly 90% of pet owners say that their pets have a positive impact on their mental health by reducing stress, being a calming presence, and offering companionship and support. You’ve likely experienced the strong connection between pets and mental health. Here, we’ll talk about why.
The Science Behind Pets and Mental Health
It’s not your imagination; coming home to your pet after a stressful day can actually make you feel better. That’s because spending time with pets has been shown to reduce the level of the stress hormone cortisol and increase oxytocin release in your body.
Oxytocin is known as the “love hormone” because it plays a major role in emotional regulation and social bonding, so it’s no wonder that being with your pet feels good. Just seeing your pet can help, but the physical interaction is really where it’s at when it comes to reducing stress and anxiety and boosting your mood. Let’s dive into this in a little more detail.
Take a look at these resources around the science of pets and mental health:
- American Education Research Association: Animal Visitation and Cortisol Levels
- Psychoneuroendrocinology: Effects of Human-Animal Interaction on Salivary and Urinary Oxytocin in Children and Dogs
Dogs
Dogs and Mental Health
Petting your dog is great at reducing stress, but the mental and physical health benefits don’t end there. In fact, dogs make great companions, not because they can offer you advice, but because of their loyalty.
Once you’ve bonded with a dog, they can truly become your perpetual sidekick, accompanying you on trips and even boosting your social life. How exactly? Well, dogs require exercise and some form of training, both of which are prime opportunities to meet like-minded dog lovers and potential new friends.
On that exercise note, dogs are great for getting you up and moving. Every dog, no matter the size, requires at the very least a daily walk, something that can supercharge your mood, lower your blood pressure, and work your heart and muscles in a very good way. Some dogs can be relentless about exercise, meaning there’s no excuse for you not to accompany them in some movement every day.
If you need to hear even more ways that dogs can help your mental health, consider this: caring for a dog requires a lot of responsibility. While that might not sound exactly like something you’re looking for more of, being accountable for something or someone is important for all of us, no matter what our age. Caring for a dog gives us a sense of purpose that can have a positive effect on mental health.
To sum up, dogs are great for mental health because they:
- Reduce stress
- Offer companionship
- Increase social interactions
- Give purpose and responsibility
- Increase exercise
With all of these benefits, it should come as no surprise that dogs are used for therapy. Of course, there are the tried and true seeing eye dogs, but a dog’s ability to help goes far beyond that. Therapy dogs are also used to help people with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, PTSD, and to provide companionship.
Want to learn more? For additional information, check out:
cats
Cats and Mental Health
Petting your dog is great at reducing stress, but the mental and physical health benefits don’t end there. In fact, dogs make great companions, not because they can offer you advice, but because of their loyalty.
Once you’ve bonded with a dog, they can truly become your perpetual sidekick, accompanying you on trips and even boosting your social life. How exactly? Well, dogs require exercise and some form of training, both of which are prime opportunities to meet like-minded dog lovers and potential new friends.
On that exercise note, dogs are great for getting you up and moving. Every dog, no matter the size, requires at the very least a daily walk, something that can supercharge your mood, lower your blood pressure, and work your heart and muscles in a very good way. Some dogs can be relentless about exercise, meaning there’s no excuse for you not to accompany them in some movement every day.
If you need to hear even more ways that dogs can help your mental health, consider this: caring for a dog requires a lot of responsibility. While that might not sound exactly like something you’re looking for more of, being accountable for something or someone is important for all of us, no matter what our age. Caring for a dog gives us a sense of purpose that can have a positive effect on mental health.
To sum up, dogs are great for mental health because they:
- Reduce stress
- Offer companionship
- Increase social interactions
- Give purpose and responsibility
- Increase exercise
With all of these benefits, it should come as no surprise that dogs are used for therapy. Of course, there are the tried and true seeing eye dogs, but a dog’s ability to help goes far beyond that. Therapy dogs are also used to help people with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, PTSD, and to provide companionship.
Want to learn more? For additional information, check out:
Pets and Mental Health for Different Age Groups
Everyone’s mental health can benefit from cats and dogs, but some ages are more targeted than others.
Pets and Kids/Teens
Pets and kids often go hand in hand. Pets make great playmates and even confidants for kids. They can help build confidence by teaching kids responsibility while being resilient enough to allow a child to learn from their mistakes. Further studies are also looking at how pets can help with ADHD, autism, and child development.
Pets can also help teens navigate the ups and downs of adolescence by helping with hormonal regulation that plays a part in regulating their emotional response, and they can even reduce stress and anxiety in college students.
Pets and Seniors
The companionship of a dog or cat may be most important in older adults, for as we retire from work and our children grow up, connecting with people may be more difficult. There may also be a shakeup in the normal routine that has senior citizens looking for a purpose and some responsibility in their lives.
Even if an older adult can’t take care of a pet full-time, they can still benefit from periodic visits through therapy programs where animals are brought in to interact with seniors. This allows them to get the benefits of this bonding without providing permanent care.
Pets and Mental Health Resources
These are great resources for learning more about the benefits of pets on mental health, and give you options for where to find therapy groups and animals.
For further information on pets and mental health or how you can benefit, look to national organizations such as:
- National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI): Learn more about mental health issues, their signs, and potential treatment options.
- Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI): Animals can truly be miracle workers. Here’s how.
- American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA):
Pets need protection, too, and there are many ways you can help.
For a more local option in the northeast, check out:
- Labradoodles of Long Island: If a therapy dog is in your future, this organization can help match you with one.
- Therapy Dogs of Long Island: If pet parenthood isn’t a possibility, you can still reap the benefits by contacting this organization.
- Paws of War: Veterans often face a unique set of mental health challenges, some of which can be helped through this organization.
How to Get Involved with Pets and Mental Health
Of course, the easiest way to engage with pets and mental health is to get a pet and reap the benefits, but that doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot of money purchasing a pet from a breeder. You can adopt or foster pets, which may not only help your mental health but will also give a homeless pet a home.
If being a pet parent just isn’t in the cards, you’re not out of luck. Volunteering at shelters, with rescue programs, or even pet therapy groups can get you the mental health-boosting pet exposure without upsetting your landlord or investing a lot of time and money into a pet.
In Conclusion
Scientific studies are backing up what many pet parents already know: pets are good for your mental health. Spending time with your pet, or even just seeing them, can reduce stress and anxiety, lower blood pressure, provide companionship and emotional support, and boost physical and social activity. That’s a lot of pluses, which may be part of the reason that the majority of households in the United States have at least one pet.
Since pets do so much for our physical and mental health, be sure you’re doing your best to keep your pet healthy by regularly seeing your veterinarian, keeping up on preventative medicine, and visiting Pet ER any time your pet experiences an emergency illness or injury.
Even if having a pet isn’t in your future, you can still benefit by volunteering with pet organizations, allowing you some hands-on time with animals while helping out these good causes.
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