Pet therapy is an emerging way of curing a person with mental disabilities, that are capable of turning to major mental health problems. You must know, pet therapy is not only limited to your home but these special animals pay visits to the patients in hospitals, schools, long-term care centers etc. These are special and well-skilled animals who have essential qualities to deal with a person’s mental disability, and not all animals fall in this category. The pet therapy animals include dogs, cats, fishes, horses etc.
Of all the listed animals many can be bought from healthcare centers, whereas exceptions like fishes and horses are not directly allowed to the premises. The patient needs to make an appointment and has to pay the visit. The pet therapy involves the patient, a pet and pet-handler or owner. With visitation therapy, pets are brought by owners to the health centers where they get to see the patients and interact with everyone differently. In this way by holding animals closely they feel a sense of relief and when they interact with them in a playful manner, their stress tends to decrease.
What are pet therapy results?
The standard health organizations are allowing a room for pet therapy because of its proven results. Many hospitals have already started with pet therapy programs and the results are astounding. An emotional support animal information Index states pets are equal to psychiatrists. This is proven in many cases, where pets were successful in curing a patient when doctors failed. Moreover, research has shown increased patient satisfaction scores after the implementation of pet therapy. This has marked a hike in people’s faith in pet therapy, people state that they are more satisfied with their health providers. In this sense we can say pet therapy has a wider scope in medical sciences as now it has shown surprising results. The experiment on pet therapy started a few years back, and now people mark its success as being an effective way for dealing with mental disabilities.
Benefits of pet therapy:
Pet therapy has shown multiple benefits in the patients, let us know some of them.
- Reduces stress level– When we consider pets as therapeutic, the fundamental benefit associated with them is, they are capable pf reducing your stress. Their mere existence is enough to cure all your worries. This happens because they regulate positive energy in surrounding through their playful behavior. Your stress is a cause of your subconscious mind and when you are involved in playful activities you feel joyous and cheerful. This distracts you from stress and you focus on being happy.
- Reduces fatigue– Fatigue refers to constant tiredness or weakness and it can be physical, mental or it can be a combination of both. People suffering from mental disabilities tend to burn more calories through their mind due to constant overthinking. Pet therapy helps reduce fatigue, it makes you stand from your bed and roam around to walk, run or play. Experts say, when you are involved in any kind of physical activity, you tend to reduce overthinking and many a times you even forget to overthink, because your mind is then shifted to a zone where it feels relaxing and soothing. Moreover, being physically active develops your stamina and you don’t feel constantly tired or weak.
- Helps with isolation– People who are vulnerable say pets have helped them to get over isolation. This is observed especially during the days of pandemic when we were locked in our houses and restricted from seeing the outer world. During this phase mental health issues raised at an alarming rate because in order to reduce stress it is important for a human to go out and socialize. This is when people realized the importance of having a pet, as being with a pet makes you feel less isolated, especially if you live alone. Moreover, people developed a stronger bond with their pet during this tough period of isolation. Hence, fighting with isolation is one of the important benefits of pet therapy because in many cases the cause of mental disturbance is lack of good people around.
- Regulate better mood– Pets are associated with better mood and more meaning, a person having a pet is comparatively happier, they have a trustable mate and companion beside them. People living with their pets tend to visit the doctor during minor situations, as pets are enough to give you a healthy life by balancing your day-to-day routine. Thus, pets have a tendency to shift your mood instantly from being low to full of energy. By paying visits to patients in hospital, the patient self-reports, that they feel an instant shift in their mood by their presence. Hence, timely hours of visit are planned with every patient, so they get enough time to spend.
- Healthier heart– People suffering from stress and anxiety tend to have an unhealthy heart system, because they are less involved in physical exercise and are constantly involved in thinking. Moreover, such people don’t follow a proper time for meals and lack several nutrients that are important for a healthy heart. Whereas, if you have a pet around you then you are likely to have a healthy heart than those who don’t. As they don’t let you sit ideally without being active physically. Their constant request for play lets you burn exhaustion, which ultimately lowers your blood pressure and keeps a balance of it. Thus, people with pets live longer.
Conclusion
If you are dealing with mental health issues and you feel every attempt is failing to make you feel better. Then pet therapy is an option, these special pets are equally trained like psychiatrists and able to understand your problem and give it a cure without uttering a word. For a sound mind and body pets are highly effective. They actively make you feel involved and create an environment for interaction. More and more hospitals are opening up for pet therapy, thus now we have a new and better way to overcome and fight mental disabilities.