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time with a pet make you happy? I know I feel happy when I just look at my very special brain damaged white cat (except when he wakes me up at 4.30am meowing to have his jellymeat refreshed). But I hadn’t thought about pets as an antidote to depression until a friend (none other than the anonymous Mr F) handed me a chapter from Healing without Freud or Prozac the other day. In it author Dr David Servan-Schreiber quotes studies showing that people are happier when they have contact with animals. One study found that older people had much better psychological resistance to life’s difficulties when they had a pet. Another discovered that Aids patients were much better protected from depression if they had a cat or dog. Lastly, people who were housebound due to a disability and virtually
unable to move round unaided were much happier if they had a dog as a companion. Not only that, but they had more friends and more contact with relations than people in similar circumstances who did not have a dog. Apparently just having an animal by your side makes you more attractive to others. (Daters take note!)Dr Servan-Schreiber also went into the benefits of animal companionship for physical health, which were considerable – lower death rates after heart attacks, going to the doctor less often, and lower blood pressure. Intellectually, people with pets and health problems were sharper too, doing better on stressful activities like mental arithmetic and public speaking, and making fewer mistakes in their work. Overall, it appears you just can’t lose owning a pet. I know that every day one of my three pets does something that makes me laugh. Barney barndog has just discovered tha
t if he plonks his paw down in the water of a stream it splashes up and he can drink it. Watching him work this out had me laughing out loud. India, the dog next door, a Staffy-Ridgeback cross built like a tank and made of muscle (very like the dog in the picture to the left), likes to climb into my lap and be pampered and groomed like a little poodle. The look of bliss on her ugly mutt makes me smile all over. The cats do that classic cat thing of going to jump on something and missing, then getting a look on their faces that says ‘oh that was completely deliberate – I meant to do that’. And it’s delightful on a cold morning to have my special cat snuggle down under the blankets and purr by my side. So do pets make you happy? Apparently the answer is yes.
Your post raises the question as to why pets contribute to one's happiness.
ReplyDeleteIs that the unconditional love or loyalty they bring? Is it the fact that they don't exhibit jealousy, grudges, or manipulation?
And in what ways do pets reduce our anxiety levels?
My theory is that certain experiences affect our brain chemistry. They would probably show up on a brain scan or in levels of serotonin, dopamine etc. In some ways I think using experiences in this way is safer than trying to directly manipulate brain chemistry through drugs, which are a very blunt instrument.
ReplyDeleteOne theory is that contact with animals raises levels of beta-endorphins (I think that is the right term) in the brain. This offsets compulsive tendencies.
Research on brain function in cognitive therapy versus antidepressant use has shown activation of the same areas of the brain in both. What we forget is that non-drug experiences affect us physically - what we think has an impact on what we feel via our brains. Food also has this effect. so in a sense everything we experience affects us like a drug, including trying not to think at all, as research on meditation shows.
I'd heard that having animals visit seniors in rest homes was incredibly beneficial. See this: http://www.healthypet.com/library_view.aspx?ID=12
ReplyDeleteA study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society in May of 1999 demonstrated that independently living seniors that have pets tend to have better physical health and mental wellbeing than those that don't. They're more active, cope better with stress, and have better overall health. A 1997 study showed that elderly pet owners had significantly lower blood pressure overall than their contemporaries without pets. In fact, an experimental residential home for the elderly called the Eden Alternative, which is filled with over 100 birds, dogs, and cats and has an outside environment with rabbits and chickens, has experienced a 15 percent lower mortality rate than traditional nursing homes over the past five years.
How do they do it?
...First of all, pets need walking, feeding, grooming, fresh water, and fresh kitty litter, and they encourage lots of playing and petting. All of these activities require some action from owners. ...Consistently performing this kind of minor exercise can keep pet owners able to carry out the normal activities of daily living. Pets may also aid seniors simply by providing some physical contact. Studies have shown that when people pet animals, their blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature decrease.
Many benefits of pet ownership are less tangible, though. Pets are an excellent source of companionship, for example. They can act as a support system for older people who don't have any family or close friends nearby to act as a support system. The JAGS study showed that people with pets were better able to remain emotionally stable during crises than those without. Pets can also work as a buffer against social isolation.... The responsibility of caring for an animal may also give the elderly a sense of purpose, a reason to get up in the morning. Pets also help seniors stick to regular routines of getting up in the morning, buying groceries, and going outside, which help motivate them to eat and sleep regularly and well.