Starting at the beginning of March 2020, World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. Shortly after that, many countries banned their citizens from leaving their homes to protect them and prevent the further spreading of the pandemic. However, while trying to contaminate the spread of the virus, these rules caused even introverted people to suffer from a lack of activity and disruption of their routine and social life.
Especially in big cities, many people live alone in their apartments, without family or friends. Of course, connecting with their loved ones helps ease the lack of socialization while staying home full-time, but nothing can beat the face-to-face experiences.
Another aspect was the highly disrupted routine life. Before the pandemic, remote working options were not as popular as today. People would get up, get dressed in the morning, and leave the comfort of their homes to go to their offices. Remote working changed everything. Many companies even offered flexible working hours to help employees cope with the situation during those days.
But humans need a daily routine of some sort. Otherwise, our brains go haywire and become susceptible to various psychological disorders. In the end, the human brain wants to keep doing what it is used to when working on auto-pilot. So to commit to changing your daily routines takes resiliency and patience.
If 2020 has taught us anything, our health has the utmost importance. But still, we are always in dire need of socialness, even against the odds. We can improve it by adopting some new daily routines aside from zoom calls and viewing the finest Netflix shows. Or we can utilize the psychological benefits of owning a pet.
Why Having a Pet Is Good for Depression?
Depression is a widespread and grave medical disorder. It affects your life, from how you feel to how you act and think. It can impair your ability to perform in your daily life and cause several mental and physical issues.
The symptoms can include losing interest in activities you once enjoyed, difficulty concentrating, loss of energy, unwanted changes in your diet, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts in the latest stages. Severe symptoms essentially arise from purposelessness, feeling worthless or guilty. Luckily it’s treatable with therapy and medications.
But there is a significant downside to using medications while suffering from depression. All those bad feelings disappear in around a week at most once you start using your prescribed medication from a certified psychiatrist. Unfortunately, the hindsight is that the disorder is still there, just buried deep under the medication’s effects.
You cannot treat it entirely without altering your lifestyle, which drove you into the depths of depression in the first place. However, if you solely use medication, do not change your routine, and talk with a therapist, you will find yourself back where you were when you stopped using the meds.
Pets can be of great assistance to someone who suffers from a major depressive disorder. They give comfort, motivation, and unconditional love. They help you keep up a healthy daily routine under all circumstances and prevent you from letting yourself go. Even if you do not feel like getting out of bed, you still have to feed your loyal companion in the morning and see the joy on its face after you give a friendly morning pet.
How Do Pets Reduce Anxiety?
A sensation of worry, dread, and unease is known as anxiety. You can start to sweat, become agitated and anxious, and experience a rapid heartbeat. It can be a typical stress response. You might have anxiety, for instance, while being chased down in the street by a dangerous guy, before taking a test, or before making a crucial decision.
It may enable you to manage. You might feel like you can concentrate deeper or have more energy if you’re anxious. But for some with anxiety disorders, the terror can be incapacitating and last long.
Anxiety has an unidentified origin. Genetics, brain chemistry and biology, stress, and your surroundings are only a few possible contributing factors. Anxiety disorders are characterized by persistent anxiety that might deteriorate with time. The symptoms might affect daily tasks like work performance, academic progress, and interpersonal connections.
According to research, caressing a dog alone lowers the stress hormone cortisol. Still, social interaction between humans and their pets indeed raises oxytocin levels, which is the same hormone that bonds mothers to babies. Petting also lowers cortisol levels and increases oxytocin levels, which reduces blood pressure. Handling and petting an animal enables you to appreciate the beauty of nature and utilize the psychological benefits of owning a pet. It’s mystical and calming.
In another research, a startling eighty percent of post-traumatic stress disorder patients partnered with a service dog reported a significant improvement in symptoms, and half of them were able to cut back on their medication.
Adopting a cat is akin to adopting a stress reliever that walks, meows, and is snarky. Cats have been found to reduce stress in various ways by being cats. After a challenging day, spending time cuddling a fluffy cat can help your body release hormones that reduce stress.
Your heart rate, blood pressure, and anxiety levels go back to normal when you do this. In addition, a cat’s purring seems to have positive healing effects on humans and even speeds up the healing process of open wounds.
There are many benefits of adopting a pet. Due to their potent stress-relieving abilities, cats and dogs, as well as various other activities, have assisted college students during finals week. In addition, cats are frequently used to help patients in stressful environments in hospitals and nursing homes.
Which Pet Is Best for Depression?
Depression is one of the gravest mental health problems that affect millions of individuals every year. Fortunately, the psychological benefits of owning a pet can alleviate our lonely, terrible sensations.
As humans’ best friends, dogs make excellent pets and positively affect mental health. They have psychological benefits such as lowering stress and anxiety levels, boosting self-esteem, and fostering stronger social bonds. The downside is they require a lot of training at the beginning of your relationship, constant caring, and daily walks.
Cats are another common pet to adopt if you are suffering from depression. The studies show that they can reduce feelings of loneliness, melancholy, and anxiety. In addition, they are more self-sufficient than dogs and do not need comprehensive training.
You might consider adopting a cat if you don’t think you are up for a good potty training period. But beware that cats listen to their owner much less than dogs. So get ready to cat-proof your home.
Because they are affectionate and perceptive, birds can also be beneficial companions. Some of them are even talkative and are frequently employed as therapy animals. It’s magical to have your bird come up to you while you are having a bad day and say it loves you.
Lastly, hamsters are excellent companion pets because they also reduce stress. They are also highly calm creatures that would not take ample time to care for.
What Pet Is Best for Anxiety?
Even though any pet will help relieve your anxiety on some level, dogs are the number one pets for this task. There are highly trained assistance dogs, therapy dogs, and dogs that provide emotional support. Legally speaking, these are all distinct from one another, and a person can adopt a dog mainly to assist them in coping with anxiety without needing to register the animal in any special places. These labels are most valuable when traveling or visiting a public place.
Service dogs are the most capable ones. They are professionally trained animals to do a task their human owners cannot do, in addition to providing emotional support. Service dogs are educated and given the legal right to travel to any place with their owners.
Although therapy dogs often don’t work for someone in need full-time, they undergo extensive training and testing to get certified. Instead, they offer social and emotional benefits to various groups of people, including students, hospital patients, and nursing home residents. Unfortunately, a service dog’s legal rights and privileges are not available to therapy dogs.
Patients with physical, mental health, or intellectual problems, such as anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, may be prescribed emotional support animals as companion animals by medical professionals (such as psychiatrists).
What Is the Best Pet for a Lonely Person?
Dogs are the best pets for a lonely person if you are not looking for a specific breed or pet type for a particular condition. We recommend you conduct a thorough study before appointing the first pet you come across. Both humans and dogs have wants that must be satisfied. Finding the ideal mate could take some time. To look at a breed firsthand, visit a nearby shelter or a reputable breeder.
Essential things to think about are listed below:
- If a person’s anxiety is managed by activity, buy a dog with loads of energy! On the other hand, if being a homebody and an introvert is your thing, go with breeds satisfied with spending their days at home.
- Think about your space at home. Do you have a garden? Are you living in a studio apartment? Also, people who desire a canine travel companion should concentrate on smaller breeds.
- A dog with less anxiety should quickly pick up new commands, remember them, and come when called.
- Dogs with lower hunting drives and less reactivity won’t suddenly start barking or sprinting away when they see a squirrel. Therefore, breeds with a calm disposition and adaptability are desirable.
- Your budget is also a vital aspect to consider. Do frequent and expensive appointments with the groomer sound nerve-wracking? Instead, choose a breed that requires little upkeep, and you can relax knowing that they only need weekly brushing to maintain their coat in order.
Here are some excellent breeds you might like to look into:
- Chihuahua:
- They have charming and independent temperaments.
- They have moderate energy.
- They are small, with an average height of 6,5 inches and five pounds.
- Their grooming process is low maintenance.
- They are easily trainable. (6/10)
- Pembroke Welsh Corgi
- They have incredibly high energy.
- They are a medium-sized breed with an average height of 11,5 inches and weight of 30pounds.
- Their grooming process is low maintenance.
- They are highly trainable. (8/10)
- Cocker Spaniel
- They are medium energetic, loving, and obedient.
- They are a medium-sized breed with an average height of 14,5 and weight of 25 pounds.
- Their grooming process needs daily brushing.
- They are highly trainable. (10/10)
- Golden Retriever
- They are very friendly and loyal.
- They have extreme energy and are very playful.
- They are a big-sized breed with an average height of 23 inches and weight of 65 pounds.
- Their grooming process needs regular brushing.
- They are incredibly trainable. (10/10)
- Labrador Retriever
- They have very high energy.
- They are a big-sized breed with an average height of 23 inches and an average weight of 67,5 pounds.
- Their grooming process is low maintenance.
- They are highly trainable. (10/10)
Conclusion
Pets are heaven-sent creatures that help us live mentally healthier lives with joy. But, having a pet in the house is a grave responsibility and commitment. But if you find a suitable pet for your lifestyle, you might cut your therapist bills in half.
Goldens are among the most common therapy, guiding, and rescue dogs for various causes, along with Labradors. They frequently pass the Canine Good Citizen exam, the benchmark for approving emotional support animals.
Their always-happy temperaments can readily change from playful to calm due to their high intelligence and ease of training. Even if you do not suffer from any mental disorders, you can still utilize the psychological benefits of owning a pet with such a dog at ease. This way, you can prevent any possible mental illnesses before getting them.
