Many people have stated that they view their pets as part of their family, and most owners have a bond with their pets. But what most don’t know is that pets can help their owners both physically and mentally.
Owning a pet comes with several benefits, as they can provide emotional support during stressful times. Whether it’s a cat, dog, lizard or any other type of animal, pets can help their owner feel less lonely and lower stress and anxiety. Recent studies have shown that therapy dogs can help lower stress in college students (sciencedaily.com) and lower blood pressure in adults (pubmed.gov).
In a 2023 study, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) polled pet owners to discover just how much pets can help their owners. The poll revealed that 69% of owners say that their pets help reduce stress and that their pets also provide unconditional love and support. While they might not understand you, pets can be there for you in trying times, whether it’s a lost game, a poorly scored test, or just a bad day in general.
Julia Brantley (12) has an assortment of pets and has seen the benefits they bring firsthand.
“They’re always there for me without judgment, and they help comfort me whenever I feel down,” Brantley said.
It’s not just students who are comforted by dogs, as many hospitals and nursing homes will bring in therapy dogs to help cheer up patients or residents. Dr. Ann Berger, a physician at the NIH Clinical Center in Maryland, discussed how therapy dogs are a source of comfort in a report on the benefits of therapy animals.
“Dogs are very present. If someone is struggling with something, they know how to sit there and be loving. Their attention is focused on the person all the time,” Berger said.
Pets don’t just have mental health benefits, as pets have also been shown to help with physical wellness as well. Many pets like dogs want their owners to take them on a walk or run, and service dogs like guide dogs or medical alert dogs help persons with disabilities thrive daily. Many elementary school classrooms have a class pet to help teach children about responsibility, and some programs will bring in guinea pigs or therapy dogs to help students with ADHD or autism focus and socialize in class.
In an interview with “Forbes” on the transformative power pets have on mental health, Dr. Zach Mills discusses how different animals can help with mental health.
“The human-animal bond can extend to any number of animals, and different animals and different people will have different responses,” Mills said. “There are also people who identify with one species of animal more than another. The individual results that people get can vary. Most of the studies around the benefits of the human-animal bond are done on dogs and horses, but any animal and human can potentially build a beneficial bond.”
