5 Proven Ways Pets Affect Your Mental Health

Let me tell you a little snippet about a good friend of mine: Mrs. Williams (name altered for privacy). Mrs. Williams was a beautiful 74 year old lady, with an even more beautiful personality. But the thing that set her apart was her incredible sense of humor. She could have an entire party in splits if she chose to. I like to think of her as the female version of the famous actor, Robin Williams.

But Mrs. Williams also suffered from depression, believe it or not. You would have never guessed it unless she told you….may be a gentle reminder that sometimes the minds with the greatest sorrows can hide behind such a lustrous smile or laugh or humor. Let’s be mindful for these lovely folks!

One day when I saw her, Mrs. Williams had a small sharp bite mark on her right index finger. Turns out a cat had accidentally bitten her. We talked more about it. It turned out Mrs. Williams lived all by herself with her four rescued cats. She told me, “They wake me up every morning, they make me want to get out of bed everyday.” “They give me something to do.” “They are like children.” She went on to add something that we both instantly agreed on, “They are like people, each cat has its own personality!”

Those were the wise words of a great friend. But you don’t have to take her or my word for it. Let’s see what science says.

Here are 5 evidence based reports of how pets affect our health (especially mental, also physical). These are scientific studies conducted at several points over the past century.

1. Early Research on Pets and Mental Health: The first known exploration on pets and mental health was conducted about 30 years ago by psychologist Alan Beck of Purdue University and psychiatrist Aaron Katcher of the University of Pennsylvania. They published a book, Between Pets and People: The Importance of Animal Companionship. Petting a dog lead to the following measurable changes in the body:

• Blood pressure went down
• Heart rate slowed
• Breathing became more regular
• Muscle tension relaxed.

Need we say more that owning a pet helps reduce stress: at least as evidenced by the benificial effects on blood pressure, heart rate, breathing and muscle tension.

2. Do pets protect against childhood anxiety?

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in fact found just that:

The study involved a total of 643 children. A little over half of them had pet dogs at home. Researchers measured the children’s BMI (body mass index), anxiety levels, screen time and physical activity.

Results: All the children had similar BMI, screen time and physical activity, regardless of pet ownership. But their anxiety levels varied significantly based on dog ownership: a positive anxiety screening test was noted in 21 percent of the children who did not have a pet dog compared to only 12 percent among children with pet dogs.

Owning a pet has been found to help calm hyperactive and aggressive children as well.

3. Do pets affect mental health in the elderly?

Let’s take a look at this 2016 study on the effect of pets on the mental health of community-dwelling elderly people: the participants were divided into two groups. One group was given five crickets (pet insects) in a cage. The study monitored their emotional health parameters including blood work over the next eight weeks. They results were compared between the two groups.

Results: The group with the pet crickets showed improvement on depression scales and cognitive function over those 8 weeks.

Maybe the act of doing things to help others may reduce depression and loneliness among seniors. Does this remind of you Mrs. Williams? 😉

This, along with the calming effect may be what’s playing into how life-like robotic pets help those with dementia. To take a look at it, click here.

4. Do pets help recovery from mental illness? Here are two studies that looked at it:

A new meta-analysis (literally the grandfather of all studies 😉 , i.e. a study that analyses numerous other studies to get a comprehensive result) looked at 17 academic papers drawn from nine medical databases.

The study sought to find the effects of cats, dogs, hamsters, finches, and even goldfish on the mental well-being of those with a mental illness. Overall, the review found that pets helped the subjects manage their emotions, besides distracting them from their mental illness.

A 2016 study at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom involved 54 participants, diagnosed with severe mental illnesses, such as depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Results: About 60 percent of participants ranked a pet among their most supportive connections. About half of the participants found pets helpful in managing illness and daily life. Having pets also was linked to a strong sense of identity, self-worth, and meaning, and distracted them from symptoms like hearing voices, suicidal thoughts, or rumination.

Caring for a pet also conferred a sense of being in control, as well as security and routine.

Maybe the pets provided a validation through unconditional support, which the owners may not have been otherwise receiving from other social relationships.

5. How are horses related to mental health?

Believe it or not, horses have been found to positively impact mental health. In equine assisted psychotherapy (EAP), a psychologist trained in EAP works with the subject, along with a horse-handling expert (to ensure physical safety and facilitate non-verbal communication with the horse) to bring about a positive emotional change. There have been ongoing studies and a growing body of literature around EAP, like this article.

So who benefits from it?

Subjects with depression, anxiety, ADHD, conduct disorders, addiction, trauma, eating disorders, dissociative disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, to name a few

What are the benefits?

To quote from the article, “The qualitative data also suggest that, through interacting with horses, children and adolescents gain in responsibility, self‐esteem, self‐control, empathy, self‐efficacy, self‐awareness, emotional awareness and the ability to stay in the present. The qualitative data also suggest horses’ potential for relieving negative emotions and, in residential programmes, for creating a welcome atmosphere for participants.”

So am I crazy to own a cat? Well, the proof is in the pudding (or the purring 😉 ).

So what do you say? Are you ready to adopt a pet?

In case it is a sweet kitty who is on your mind, click here to read about the 5 things you should know before you adopt a cat.

Have a dog gone good day!