The Science of Pet Therapy: How Pets Can Improve Mental Health

Pets are amazing companions! My bearded dragon, for instance, has been a source of comfort during tough times. Just watching him explore his terrarium or basking under his heat lamp brings me a sense of peace. Taking care of him has also taught me responsibility and patience. If you're interested in learning more about bearded dragons, you can find helpful resources at[link removed by moderator] 

The mental Health Team I am with at the moment appreciate how important my dog is to me and even permit him in meetings because of how he lowers my anxiety 

I am in a very similar situation. My JRT is 13 but very fit and still competing successfully in agility competitions but I know this can only be for a year, may be 2, more. I am thinking about finding him a rescue sister before he goes, otherwise I don't think I will cope.

Unquestionably, from my perspective and experience.

I do feel sorry for those humans who seem unable to connect with that "magic."

I would have been "lost" a long time ago, without it.

You hit the nail on the head about how pets can genuinely be a boon for our mental health. I've personally felt the stress melt away just by spending a few minutes with my cat. There's something magic about that unconditional love and companionship that animals offer.

Our work place allows people to bring their dogs!! So we have a dog at work and everyone loves him- when we get stressed we go pet the dog :)

.....or market research on the autistic vibe?

Someone after my own heart perhaps - ie supermax anonymity?......or else it is perhaps just a confused and lost chat-bot occasioning upon us?

I wonder the same!

Why do we sometimes have threads made here that sound as though they are taken from a textbook, with no introduction or any idea who/what the OP is?

This has happened several times, usually with a 'person' who joins to make the thread, and then doesn't post again ... or respond to anyone.

I'm perplexed.

My cat and i do have conversations, just not with two way spoken English. I don't know what love languages mean but I get this every day with purring, belly tickles and squinting eyes. 

I understand this. We had guinea pigs which lived in the garden a few years ago. They gave us a lot of pleasure and I heard them squeak from outside when I came home. I admit I did talk to them too. I also get the stroking a pet thing.

However my life has changed and for me now it would be an extra thing to do with stress to look after and clean up after a pet. I enjoy going for walks when it suits me which would not work for a dog that needed walking every day. Some days going out is just too much. 

I guess it depends on the person and their needs.

You and I are diametrically opposed on this matter.  I have frequent meaningful  conversations with animals and prefer their company to the vast majority of my limited number of human companion options.  I rarely fail to raise a "response" from any animal that I encounter and commonly share an exchange of views.  Without these animal connections, I fear that I would have gone mad a good few years hence.

Peter said:

It’s just unnerving to have a rogue element moving around your house behaving in irrational ways, pooping on the floors, scratching the furniture, or jumping all over you without warning.

I can understand why a pet doesn't appeal when it's put like that. But for me, none of it is applicable, because that's not how my pet behaves- my dog is housetrained, relatively calm, well-behaved, and routine-oriented.

I'm not saying everybody ought to have or like animals but I do think it's a little bit unfair to characterise them as inherently chaotic when many pet owners have put in the effort to understand animal behaviour and/or train their pets, meaning the animal's actions are far more predictable.

I definitely think my dog is good for my mental health. He makes me laugh, he gets me outside every day, and for the most part he's a calming presence in my home. He's not an assistance or therapy animal, but he is my friend, and that does make a huge difference in my life.

T said:

my dog doesn't spend any time moving faster than a slow walk so hardly running around me.

The speed is not the issue. It’s just unnerving to have a rogue element moving around your house behaving in irrational ways, pooping on the floors, scratching the furniture, or jumping all over you without warning. I grant you children can also sometimes do these things but at least you can talk to children about it.

“And companionship includes a lot of things other than talking and sex.”

does it? I’m sorry I’m not one of these people who can sit for ages in silence with someone and just think oh yeah I’ve had a really good time hanging out with this person. I normally have to do something with them, if it’s not talking then it’ll be playing a game or possibly watching a movie, but even then I’m the type that’d want to talk about the movie afterwards. I am the kind of guy who'll ask you about the book your reading.

as for physical contact. I generally only want physical contact between myself people who I consider friends or people to whom I am sexually attracted. A pet lacks the intellectual reciprocity for the former and until Elon Musk makes his cat girls also the physiological necessities for the latter.

chat GPT has a better chance at meeting my criteria for emotional reciprocity than a ball of fur.

I'm not sure you really understand what having a pet is like. Aside from when he's being walked, my dog doesn't spend any time moving faster than a slow walk so hardly running around me. And companionship includes a lot of things other than talking and sex. It's a nice feeling to come down in the morning or get back home from wherever and have a living, thinking being be super happy to see you. It's not for everyone, I guess but it's mostly an incredibly rewarding experience to have a pet (one that actually knows you exist, not a fish).

I definitely think my dog has helped me deal at least a bit better than I would have otherwise. He is pretty old at this point so probably will pass in the next couple of years and that'll really suck.

Yup I get this. My dog was just a regular dog. A rescue dog who came into my life just as a pet but he is way more than that now. He's become very tuned in to my emotions and even before I realise I'm stressed he's by my side. He gets me out of the house every day because he needs his walk and he helps me to start conversations with other people who are walking their dogs. Some days that will be the only human conversation I have as I do prefer to be at home. Can't hide away because I need to take care of his needs. My boy is now around 11 years old and I worry about how things will be when he's gone. I strongly suspect I will be down at the local rescue very soon after I loose him. I'm widowed and live alone so he's my whole world. 

Yeah I don’t get this at all. Appreciate other people find joy in pets. Maybe if I were to keep a pet it would probably be something like a goldfish. Pretty to look at you wouldn’t try and pet it or talk to it or tell that you’ve had a hard day. Having animals running around me if anything tends to stress me out. some people seem to treat pets like substitute people. I don’t get that. I can’t imagine thinking about a pet as a companion. I mean companionship requires a degree of responsiveness and for me responsiveness is usually verbal, so unless you’re talking about a parrot that’s a complete 0% success rate right there. I mean people talk about love languages and I’m pretty sure one of  my main  love languages is Conversation which you can’t do with your pets. The second is probably the horny stuff which you shouldn’t do with your pets.