Can Pets Really Benefit Our Mental Health?
The idea that pets improve our mental health and wellbeing is a thought that has been around for centuries. But surprisingly, this claim’s entrance into the scientific world is relatively new.[1] From lowering stress and hypertension to increasing perceived social support and daily positive affect, pets really do seem to be “man’s best friend”.[2] There are many anecdotal cases supporting the effectiveness of pet companionship as treatment for mental health conditions— in fact, Cusack (1998) notes pets have even been prescribed to patients as ‘co-therapists’.[3] However, despite the overwhelming narrative support for this idea, the empirical findings are mixed.[4]
Due to this topic’s recent breakthrough into the scientific world, datasets have generally been fairly limited in their size, making their proper analysis and summary difficult. Moreover, a lack of random sampling, difficulties in controlling confounding variables, and unreliability in the measurement of subjective variables have all made it difficult to correctly distill generalizable and reliable causal relationships from these studies.[5] But, fortunately for our furry, feathered, and scaled friends, despite these discrepancies in quantitative empirical research, there seem to be many potential mechanisms by which our pets can improve our wellbeing. And the research is only increasing in volume.[6]
Mechanisms by Which Pets Can Improve Mental Health
In daily life:
Interacting with an animal can help reduce stress in both the short-term as well as the long-term. Freund et al., (2016) note that the presence of an animal has an instant soothing effect on many people, reducing autonomic stress indicators such as blood pressure and heart rate.[7] Moreover, the oxytocin released during human-animal interactions helps down-regulate the HPA axis, the primary mechanism of stress reactions in humans. This results in lowered cortisol levels, leading to lowered stress in the long-term, as well.[8,9] Lowered stress, in addition to increased levels of physical activity intrinsic to owning pets, results in improved emotional wellbeing as well as a reduced risk of heart disease.[10,11]
Relatedly, animals act as an important source of social support for people, much in the same way that other humans do. Social relationships are one of the main regulators of affect in humans— in fact, loneliness negatively impacts both psychological and biological processes, from cognitive function to autonomic system sensitivity and hormonal levels. Additionally, oxytocin not only helps reduce stress but also simultaneously promotes positive feelings of security and comfort. Therefore, pets are able to boost emotional wellbeing by alleviating feelings of stress and promoting positive affect in their role as reliable sources of social connection for many people.[12]
In child development:
Animals also play an important part in the development of key cognitive and emotional skills in children. Interactions with animals are chock full of novel experiences and cognitive challenges for children. Aspects of pet ownership, such as gradual, repetitive training and incremental demands, are known to improve the development of skills such as planning, shifting attention, and impulse control in children. The sense of responsibility imparted by caring for a pet in the household also allows children to further these important developmental skills. Furthermore, living with a pet can help enhance emotional intelligence, empathy, and social skills in children. The task of providing sustenance, play, and care to a pet provides a plethora of opportunities to engage in safe, non-stressful social interactions as well as a deeper understanding of how to care for another being.[13]
In supporting those with mental health conditions:
Pet ownership can help alleviate symptoms of many mental health conditions by providing emotional support in a unique way to subvert negative affect. Pets are sentient; many pets’ ability to provide affection as well as their intuition to provide support when it is needed allows them to help people through symptomatic episodes. Relatedly, pets are able to reduce feelings of loneliness by acting as a consistent source of affiliation and physical touch. In a study by Brooks (2018), pets were even shown to help people create new social connections and strengthen existing ones. Since feeling isolated is both a propagator as well as a byproduct of many mental health conditions such as depression and personality disorders, pets are able to greatly improve patients’ daily lives in this way.[14]
In addition to providing emotional support, the unconditionally positive regard with which a pet may view its owner helps to promote positive self-image, which is often diminished in many mental health conditions. Pets can make people feel accepted for their entire self as well as proud about their role as a caretaker. In this way, pets can help promote self-esteem and self-acceptance, helping to subvert stigma associated with mental health conditions. This unconditional acceptance also allows for people to verbalize their thoughts and express their emotions without fear of judgment to their pets. This can help people with emotional regulation, stress resilience, and perseverance through difficult life events. Pets help provide relationships that are free of stressors like conflict, betrayal, or crossing of boundaries, which create safe spaces for people with conditions such as PTSD or Autism.[15]
Beyond providing emotional support and the potential for boundless affection, pets also provide a welcome distraction from symptoms. Pets have been found to subvert key symptoms such as suicidal ideation, hallucinations, and panic attacks simply by being present and redirecting patients’ attention. Moreover, by creating routines, increasing physical exercise, and constantly requiring care, pets are able to alleviate negative mental health symptoms by promoting healthy habits and providing something positive for people to focus on.[16]
The Eternal Question: Dog or Cat? Or Bird or Fish or…?
The majority of anecdotal as well as empirical evidence suggest that dogs have the greatest positive impact on people’s emotional wellbeing as compared to cats or any other kind of animal. Certain genetic characteristics of dogs make them better suited to the role of support animals by making them more trainable and affectionate than other animals.[17,18] Additionally, dog owners tend to score better across all aspects of emotional wellbeing than cat owners.[19]
However, this discrepancy may be found in the fact that there is currently far less research regarding the health benefits of cat ownership than dogs. The field is continuing to grow and cats are being found to have similar impacts on human emotional wellbeing as dogs. An article shared by UC Davis Veterinary Medicine notes that cats are able to form similarly deep emotional bonds with humans and those with more extroverted tendencies are able to benefit their owners as much as dogs.[20]
However, despite the focus of research and narratives on just dogs and cats, other animals are also able to confer similar benefits to humans’ mental health.[21] Animals such as snakes, rabbits, birds, and horses can also improve people’s daily lives in similar ways.[22,23] The best companion animal is one that is highly individualized and unique to match each person’s personality, lifestyle, and attachment style.[24-26]
“Munchkin” Photo credit: Sanjana Bakre
So What’s The Verdict?
Finally, after considering all the evidence: do pets improve our mental health or not? The answer is… maybe.
Although the quantitative data is quite lacking, there is a large archive of qualitative data as well as individual case studies that support the claim that pets can have life-changing impacts on our mental health.[27,28] The lacuna in quantitative data can be attributed to the fact that this topic has only recently begun to be researched seriously.[29] The proliferation of supporting qualitative data is promising and future research into this topic could prove to be revolutionizing to wellbeing interventions for both clinical populations as well as the general public.[30]
The answer to this question is also a very subjective one. Although pets can boost wellbeing in myriad different ways, prescribing a pet to someone who doesn’t have the mental bandwidth or physical resources to take care of an animal could do far more harm than good.[31] It is also strongly recommended to ensure, that before getting any type of pet, everyone in the household is on the same page about pet ownership and responsibilities and that they do research beforehand to know what is fully required in terms of cost and proper care to ensure both the animal and family remain happy and healthy. So yes, a pet can truly change someone’s life for the better— but it is not a panacea or a one-size-fits-all cure.
Contributed by: Sanjana Bakre
Editor: Jennifer (Ghahari) Smith, Ph.D.
References
1 Cusack, O. (1988). Pets and Mental Health (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315784618
2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2022, July 26). The power of pets. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2018/02/power-pets
3 Cusack (1988)
4 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2022)
5 Koivusilta, L. K., & Ojanlatva, A. (2006). To have or not to have a pet for better health? PLoS ONE, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000109
6 Cusack (1988)
7 Freund, McCune, S., Esposito, L., Gee, N. R., & McCardle, P. (2016). The social neuroscience of human-animal interaction. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14856-000
8 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2022)
9 Freund et al. (2016)
10 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2022)
11 American Heart Association. (2022, July 19). Pets as coworkers. www.heart.org. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-bond-for-life-pets/pets-as-coworkers
12 Freund et al. (2016)
13 Ibid.
14 Brooks, H.L., Rushton, K., Lovell, K. et al. The power of support from companion animals for people living with mental health problems: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of the evidence. BMC Psychiatry 18, 31 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-018-1613-2
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 Freund et al. (2016)
18 Wood, T. (2020, December 5). Why therapy cats are just as effective as therapy dogs. School of Veterinary Medicine. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/why-therapy-cats-are-just-effective-therapy-dogs
19 Bao, K.J., Schreer, G. (2016) Pets and Happiness: Examining the Association between Pet Ownership and Wellbeing, Anthrozoös, 29:2, 283-296, DOI: 10.1080/08927936.2016.1152721
20 Wood (2020)
21 Brooks, A. C. (2021, August 11). Which pet will make you happiest? The Atlantic. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/08/choosing-pet-happiness/619663/
22 Granger, A. (2022, July 5). What animals can be emotional support animals? Therapy Pets Unlimited. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://therapypetsunlimited.org/what-animals-can-be-emotional-support-animals/
23 Granger, A. (2022, July 5). Can a snake be an emotional support animal? Therapy Pets Unlimited. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://therapypetsunlimited.org/can-a-snake-be-an-emotional-support-animal/#:~:text=If%20you%20are%20looking%20for,playing%20or%20caring%20for%20them
24 Brooks, A.C. (2021)
25 Samuel D. Gosling, Carson J. Sandy & Jeff Potter (2010) Personalities of Self-Identified “Dog People” and “Cat People”, Anthrozoös, 23:3, 213-222, DOI: 10.2752/175303710X12750451258850
26 Simring, K. S. (2015, September 1). What your pet reveals about you. Scientific American. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-your-pet-reveals-about-you1/
27 Cusack (1988)
28 Koivusilta (2006)
29 Ibid.
30 Cusack (1988)
31 Brooks (2018)