Pets are our go-to since forever! With their cute little face with innocence written all over, their waggling tail and tiny feet which tend to track by following wherever we go! Well, no wonder that it is more like a piece of home that accompanies us when we are heading out somewhere!
As they say, sometimes home is 2 eyes and a heartbeat. Well, for me, it extends to being four-legged furry cuteness too! Most of the pet owners, or may I just say, people with the best companions give a thumbs up to my feelings.
Not only in terms of sharing our joy by filling up a huge space in our lives, but pets are also those blessings that stay with you during your bad days, which cheer you up whenever your mood is upset, which waives your stress off by melting your heart with its weird, funny behavior!
That is why the therapists recommend having pet therapy or animal-assisted therapy for those who are going through depression and any other mood-related issues. Interacting with your kind of animal helps you in a great way by helping you treat your mood, mental stress, and other health issues too.
Keep reading to know a lot more about pet therapy for depression and get ready to receive some surprising facts!
A bit of know-how:
Although playing, petting, or spending some quality time with different animals surely helps in energizing you by feeding positive thoughts, most of them recommend going for pets such as:
Cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, and birds too!
Playing with them or spending some time with them makes you feel happy, and calm, and evokes a sense of purpose.
“Behind the scene”:
Like many, even you are curious to know so as to how actually this petting thing works that great? What’s the logic behind this? Here’s the “secret of the magician revealed”:
While you are busy petting and playing with your favorite pet pal, your brain is super happy to release a chemical called “Endorphin” which you might have heard of during class 8. So, for those of us who are not sure what an endorphin is, let me just brush it off your class 8 teaching!
Endorphins are the chemicals that ease your body’s pain by counteracting and thus cause you to have a sense of well-being and pleasure. This, in turn, will let you fight against depression.
Some more about the pets, petting, and playing!
Pets Help You by Forcing You to Stay Active Even When You Outburst Depression:
As you know, pets love it when you take them for a long walk. So, this needs to be done at least 2-3 times a day so as to keep your pal all happy, waggly, giggly, and snuggly!
This means that you should head out too if you want your cute little weirdo to be happy and funny all day around! Stepping out for a while can make you feel relaxed as you don’t have to think about your office, studies, stress, or any personal things that are going on or bothering you in your life.
All you need to think is that you are taking your champ out for a peaceful walk. That’s it. No negative thinking, no unfulfilled demands!
Pets Play a Huge Role in Getting Social by Breaking that “Ice”!
How? You know how pets can be “oh.so.cute” any day, any time! I guess they are born to flaunt with their innocent cuteness throughout their life! Anyhow, coming back to the point, pets, because of their obvious cuteness spotting all over them can fetch many more head turners!
Random people passing by cannot resist to adore your pet and play for some time. They start interacting with you and shoot some, you know, a chunk of details about your pet. Thus, you can converse with them and build contacts!
Especially, people who are introverts, but love to talk, communicate, and interact with people and not sure how to strike the conversation, then, your pet can be the “conversation striker”!
Pets = True Companion for the Rest of the Coming Years!
Pets can be really cheerful. Do you know why? They don’t demand, they don’t complain, they don’t expect, yes, except, a little care and lots of love!
Well, the major symptom of depression is you prefer to isolate yourself from the people around and spend your time with yourself only.
You tend to think that no one can understand what you are going through and to be honest, you seem to have lost interest in giving an explanation. Perhaps, you just do not feel like hanging out with people anymore.
This is not good! Very soon, you will start to feel alone. In this case, your life savior can be the pet you choose! They never ever let you feel alone, they constantly are around you, they crave for your attention, they entertain you, of all the above, they never leave you.
This is the effective and proven result gathered from studies that depressed people tend to forget their sadness soon after they start playing with their pets. Pets do shower their love by being with you when you need them, when you feel lonely, sad, or depressed, don’t worry, they are with you, right next to you. Always.
Interact With Them Even if They Are Not Yours:
Yes, a study has proven tons of instances wherein people are seen to brighten up with a positive change in their mood after interacting with some random animals and even at the veteran hospitals.
An elderly person felt a lot better after interacting and playing with a cute pup in a veteran hospital. Of course, the pup had passed on its “happy element” by being so cheerful and loving!
Many depressed youngsters were seen much better after they had an interactive session with the pets of their choice.
Another “young at heart” person was seen as relieved and happy when interacting with the songbirds.
There are millions of other instances out there waiting to cheer up the people under depression by being a positive thought!
Find therapy animals:
Some groups and organizations provide animal-assisted therapy for the betterment for people under depression and other mood problems.
Delta Society and the American Humane Association have come forward with a positive motto to relieve people from depression by organizing animal-assisted therapies.
If you live in Denver, you can reap the advantage of being thereby making a visit to Denver pet partners to fight against depression. They help you out by conducting pet therapy according to your choice and comfort.
One important thing to be taken care of is to know how well the animal therapy handlers are trained. Well, this shows how well they can train the therapy animals. Of course, you can have a calm, relieved session if you interact with well-trained, playful animals.
If the therapy animals are harsh and not so friendly, then, this is the expected outcome of the poor training of the animal therapy handlers.
So, before you invest in the therapy session, make sure to research well about the little details of the organization from your end.
Adopting a pet:
Just so you know, people are buzzing to have their own pet which accompanies them for the coming years.
People are becoming more aware of the fact that shelters and rescue organizations are being flooded with needy, homeless animals. Thus, instead of buying a fancy breed from the breeder, people are opting for local shelters. This decision not only puts a roof on a homeless animal but also creates some space for yet another homeless animal to be rescued in a shelter.
To read more details about adopting a pet click here
To be cautious:
Before paying a visit to the therapy organizations, shelters, or any other animal-related events, make sure you are not allergic to any kind of thing when you are around animals, say their hair, smell, or any other related issues.
It is better to consult your doctor before making a decision about pet therapy. If your doctor advises one, then, you better be sure that you are not allergic to any animal-related issues.
And The Bottom Line Is:
No matter how stressed or depressed you are, interacting with someone you love can instantly reduce your stress and bring that curve back on your face. The interaction doesn’t really have to be with a person, many of us care for our pets more than anything else, more than ourselves.
It is a proven fact that your pet’s happiness relies on you, and your mood relies on the pet’s activeness. Pets instantly brighten up your mood by being around you. Jumping, playing, snuggling, giggling, licking, hugging!
No wonder they burst our stress and thrive with some positive aura around us by being so cute, innocent, and playful. Happy petting! Happy living!