The Pet Effect

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pets and the unconditional love and nonjudgmental companionship they offer can help people living with depression and other mental health conditions. They improve their owners’ moods, help them manage and regulate their emotions, and lessen stress and anxious or negative thoughts. Pets can be valuable company for individuals who live alone.

Animals distract their companions from mental health symptoms, including isolation, lethargy, rumination and worrying. Caring for pets increases individuals’ self-esteem and provides a sense of purpose and a feeling of being needed. Dogs can initiate social contact with others and give a daily reason to exercise. Feeding, walking and bathing animals can help adolescents learn to plan and be responsible. In addition, children who are emotionally attached to their pets are better able to build relationships with other people.

If it is not possible for you to own an animal, visit a zoo, place a bird feeder in your backyard or outside one of your windows, purchase a fish tank, walk a neighbor’s dog, pet-sit for friends or family, and/or volunteer at a shelter. Fostering an animal temporarily until a permanent home can be found for him or her is another option.

Pets offer their owners continuity, meaning and stability, and keep them anchored in the present. Playing with an animal raises an individual’s dopamine and serotonin levels, increases the release of oxytocin and reduces cortisol. Whether it is a dog, cat, bird, turtle, hamster, rabbit or fish, a pet can provide a sense of routine and security that gives those confronting a mental health condition emotional and social support.