Question: Can animals help with stress? Answer: Animals can help to reduce feelings of loneliness, isolation, and boredom. Pets also provide nonjudgemental interaction. Animals can be a source of social support when people are in times of grief or undergoing other stressors.
Specific animals have been shown to promote better sleep quality in women, lower blood pressure in stroke patients, produce endorphins that promote good moods, and decrease the potential for heart attack when their owners are grieving.
Research shows that children exposed to pets early in life are less likely to develop respiratory allergies when exposed to allergens later on. Animal companionship is also linked with positive mental health outcomes. A study of UK women found that living alone with a pet was associated with lower odds of poor mental health than living alone without a pet. This effect remained significant even after controlling for several demographic and socioeconomic variables. Pets can be used effectively to aid in the recovery from heart attacks and strokes. The presence of a pet helps decrease anxiety, depression, and the need for pain medication.
Relaxed interactions with people can be another benefit of pet ownership. Pets help to bridge the generation gap in some senior centers. Because pets cannot talk back, they can provide young and old alike with a common ground on which to interact and learn from each other. Individuals who own pets also report less stress than those without pets – even through difficult life events such as divorce, bereavement, or relocation.
While animals can bring about positive effects in people, it is important to be cautious of using animals as a sole source of support. Pets are not likely to understand issues such as sexual abuse or eating disorders. Although animals can provide protection, they also increase the potential for injury and death. Animal-assisted therapy should be used with caution and only when no other form of therapy is available.
Pet-assisted therapy programs must comply with guidelines set by state law, humane organizations, insurance companies, and other governing bodies. It is essential that this type of program involve activities supervised by trained professionals who understand the needs of both human clients and animal companions. This ensures that all participants are adequately screened for any problems that may arise during interactions between humans and animals, and it helps guarantee the safety of all involved.
Performing arts centers have also begun to use animals in their productions, especially in musicals involving children. This practice has created controversy because some animal rights activists feel there is potential for abuse during training sessions. There are currently no federal regulations that cover theatrical animals other than those used in circuses (with the exception of Alaska, where state laws apply).
Because pets help decrease loneliness and depression among seniors, increase social interaction between different age groups, act as an aid to learning, increase levels of exercise by humans through playtime activities, reduce feelings of isolation among people who own pets — many elderly Americans should consider owning a pet (not necessarily a dog) while they still can enjoy them.
A man can never love a woman as much as a dog loves its owner. Dogs are the only species to express concern if their owners show signs of not feeling well, will sustain injuries to keep them from going into dangerous areas, and will even guard their parents against harm.
Dogs feel emotions such as anger, happiness, sadness, and fear. They become excited when they expect something good is going to happen (like food) – or expect something bad is going to happen (like a bath). These feelings cause physical changes in dogs’ bodies – rapid breathing, increased heartbeat, dilated pupils – all of which we can see with the naked eye. Canines also become anxious during thunderstorms and fireworks displays.