Feeling Better with Our Little Friends

Most of us like companionship in our houses. Especially during the pandemic, having another person with us in our houses gained more importance. Should this “living thing” be a person? Studies show that owning a pet results in reducing the incline for depression by offering purposefulness and boosting self-confidence. Mainly, being a pet owner has an effect on both our physical and mental health.

Pets and Physical Health

What is the reason why pets have this much effect on our well-being? If we look from a more scientific perspective, even just holding an animal creates differences in our hormones. The level of serotonin and dopamine, hormones that are related to happiness and being calm, increases with the help of our pets.

The most important hormone that our pets trigger and we benefit from is oxytocin. Oxytocin, the love hormone, normally increases when we have physical contact with another person. When our pets result in increasing our oxytocin levels, there is a stimulation of social interaction in us. So, no more feelings of loneliness and stress for us! Also, oxytocin has an anti-stress effect which we specifically need these days.

(source: cdc.gov)

“Pet effect” is also associated with our physical health. Pet owners tend to have fewer doctor visits, lower blood pressure, and an even smaller chance of having a heart attack than non-pet owners! One of the most important reasons for this is pet owners have a responsibility and a reason to “live” because they must take care of a living thing. Thus, the sense of being needed enters the stage.

(source: aarp.org)

Pets and Psychology

We tend to speak about our pets if the person we are talking with also has a pet. Do you want to start a conversation with another person? Ask them if they have any pets or ever had any pets. Are you having difficulty with finding a topic to talk about due to being at home on 7/24? Talk about your little furry, or not, friend.

(source: familyhealthadvocacy.com)

For more intense negative feelings and psychological needs, pets can be therapeutic. Specifically, dogs are the best therapeutic buddies for us. Taking our dog for a daily walk is good for both experiencing exercise and not being able to isolate yourself. Some universities even have therapy centers based on going and petting an animal when students are stressed.

Being a pet owner also affects our attachment styles. We tend to have less preoccupied and anxious attachment if we have an animal living with us. The reason is that we try and mostly able to form a healthy attachment with our pets. Also, pets do not function as substitutes when means of social support are insufficient. They only provide extra support so, we do not trick ourselves to have social support and there is nothing unhealthy about this.

If we come back to the topic of having a pet in quarantine, companionship is the most important result. Think like this, you are psychologically exhausted due to being in your home all day. Finally, you had enough and even do not want to get out of your bed. Yet, we have to pet, feed, and maybe walk out our pets. So, let’s get out of bed and start our day!

Sources:

Beetz, A., Uvnäs-Moberg, K., Julius, H., & Kotrschal, K. (2012). Psychosocial and psychophysiological effects of human-animal interactions: the possible role of oxytocin. Frontiers in psychology, 3, 234. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00234

Retchin, S., & Silva, J. (2020, December 1). Psychological benefits of pet ownership. https://www.newyorkbehavioralhealth.com/psychological-benefits-of-pet-ownership/#:~:text=It%20has%20been%20widely%20known,people%20both%20psychologically%20and%20physically.&text=Recent%20research%20suggests%20that%20pets,levels%20of%20well%2Dbeing%20overall.

Sussex Publishers. (n.d.). The Psychological and Physical Benefits of Having a Pet. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-mind-body-connection/202010/the-psychological-and-physical-benefits-having-pet.