Having a pet is one of life’s greatest joys. A companion animal provides loyalty, friendship, and love like no other – how lucky we are to have them!
However, the benefits of human-animal interactions go much deeper than most people think, and it’s events like Stress Awareness Week and those surrounding mental health, that encourage us to take a further look into the effectiveness of pets reducing stress and other ailments.
Let us take you through just some of the many reasons why having pets makes us feel good and just how beneficial having an animal in your life can be.
Providing Purpose
Looking after a pet is a great reason to get up in the morning. Whether that is feeding them, washing them, or even getting outdoors to spend time with them – animals give our lives extra purpose and can help give people that boost they need to get up and seize the day.
Having a strong sense of purpose is key for many people to find balance in their lives and develop a healthy routine. Studies have shown that people who feel they have a sense of purpose tend to be better at managing stress, have lower instances of depression, and generally engage in healthier behaviours and lifestyle choices.
Dogs are a perfect example of how a pet can encourage healthier lifestyle choices, as they are great at getting their owners to exercise. They can also serve as excellent companions on walks and other excursions. No matter the animal, having a pet can allow you to build a daily routine with them in it and become an integral part of your life!
Providing Companionship
Animal companions provide loyalty, security, and someone to share the day with. While it’s not often associated with stress, animals can greatly reduce the concerns people experience when living alone.
From discouraging burglars to generally relieving anxiety, having a companion animal at home can help you feel at ease. The love and companionship pets provide are also fantastic at combatting loneliness. People who live alone will always come home to someone who is excited to see them. Studies into how individuals cope after losing a loved one have also shown that having a pet at home helps ease the pain they experience.
The benefits of this animal companionship aren’t just felt by single-person households either, many couples, families, and other people living together enjoy the company of animals.
Improving Mental Health
Owning for and caring for pets is a proven way to reduce anxiety and stress in individuals. Whether that’s feeling the rewarding benefits from caring for your pet, or simply spending time relaxing and stroking them – pets ensure their owners feel needed and motivated!
When investigating ‘do pets reduce stress?’, a Cats Protection survey found that 87% of cat owners felt their feline friends had a positive impact on their wellbeing, whilst an additional 76% felt they were coping with everyday life better as a result of the company of their cats. A great result for the feline enthusiasts out there!
However, it isn’t just cats that are shown to improve mental health; you can feel the benefits from any animal, such as dogs, rabbits, horses, reptiles, guinea pigs, and more!
Providing Therapy and Assistance
Animal Therapy or Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) is a type of therapy that involves animals as a form of treatment for humans. In these sessions, people get the chance to sit with the animals, stroke and pet them, the effects of which can help improve a patient’s social, emotional, or cognitive functioning and help give them independence.
Animal Assisted Intervention services can help children, adolescents, adults and older people with mental health needs, and physical or learning disabilities, to achieve increased health, wellbeing and quality of life.
The wellbeing of the animal remains the top priority throughout this method of therapy, and there is a range of animals that can provide emotional support and be involved in this kind of treatment. So, whilst you might more frequently see therapy dogs and therapy cats, an abundance of other species work as therapy animals too.
As it’s becoming such a popular form of treatment, you can find Animal Assisted Intervention animals in an array of environments including hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, special needs schools, and prisons.
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Get Trained To Provide Animal Therapy For Stress
If you want to turn your passion for animals into a career that helps others, our Level 3 Diploma in Animal Assisted Intervention will enable you to work or volunteer in the increasingly popular field of Animal Assisted Intervention.
Through this convenient online course, you will discover Intervention Therapy in animal and human care, and how these animal treatments work. You’ll explore a range of fascinating modules, that cover everything from the history and science behind Animal Assisted Intervention, to client and animal matching, and how to train animals using positive, force-free methods. All of this and more will ready you to help others reduce their stress by bonding with animals.
Contact our team today to find out more about this course and how it can help you start your dream animal career! You can call them on 01202 006 040 or speak to us online.
Also, if you adore animals, you can keep track of all upcoming animal awareness days and events with our FREE calendar! Download it here.
