Considering a Pet? How Owning an Animal Can Support Your Mental Health
Have you been thinking about getting a pet but aren’t sure if it’s the right choice for you? Perhaps you’re wondering how a pet could impact your mental health, or worried about the time, financial, and emotional responsibilities that come with pet ownership.
While caring for a pet does involve commitment and practical considerations, research suggests that pets can also offer significant emotional and psychological benefits. Owning a pet can reduce feelings of loneliness, provide companionship, encourage physical activity, and even improve mood and stress levels. For many people, the presence of a pet can foster a sense of purpose, routine, and connection that positively influences overall well-being.
In this article, we’ll explore the potential mental health benefits of pet ownership, consider the common challenges and responsibilities, and provide guidance for deciding whether adding a furry (or feathered) friend to your life could be a healthy and rewarding choice.
Increased Social Support and Connection
A study in 2016 by Brooks and colleagues explored the role of pets in the support and management activities of people with long-term mental health challenges (Brooks et al., 2016). These pets were often placed in individuals’ most central and valued circle of support. In other words, the pets provided a source of secure and close relationships. This is valuable because many close relationships are limited or unavailable through connections with other people (Brooks et al., 2018; Brooks et al., 2016).
Pets can provide non-evaluative empathy and unconditional positive regard to their humans (Kruger & Serpell, 2010). Non-evaluative empathy means that the animals can sense and respond to people’s emotions. Non-evaluative empathy also involves showing unconditional positive regard. Unconditional positive regard is where a being is unconditionally loving towards another in a way that is free of judgment (Kruger & Serpell, 2010).
The social support pets can provide can significantly help with loneliness and isolation. Reducing the sense of isolation is important because loneliness is a common mental health challenge (Brooks et al., 2016).
As is well-known, the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased social isolation. Increased social isolation further led to negative mental health symptoms for many individuals. Many people were getting ‘pandemic pets’ to fill their time and increase companionship.
A 2021 study by Martin and colleagues found that dog owners experienced higher perceived social support. Dog owners also reported lower depression scores than non-dog owners (Martin et al., 2021). This stronger sense of social support may have helped mitigate some of the negative mental health symptoms caused by the pandemic (Martin et al., 2021).
Not only do pets offer social support to their humans, but they also can help with humans’ abilities to attach to others (Kruger & Serpell, 2010). Studies conducted with college students found that people are often seen as happier, friendlier, wealthier, less threatening, and more relaxed when they appear in a picture with a pet versus how they are perceived when the same picture is shown without the pet (Kruger & Serpell, 2010). Studies also found that when comparing people walking with their dogs versus alone, positive social interactions with strangers were higher when the dogs were present (Kruger & Serpell, 2010).
The Calming Effect of Pets
The presence of animals has been shown to reduce anxiety and arousal levels in humans (Kruger & Serpell, 2010). One popular theory to explain this effect is the biophilia hypothesis. The biophilia hypothesis outlines that humans contain an innate tendency to move towards other living organisms. From an evolutionary stance, humans’ tendency to pay attention to other living organisms helped their chances of survival.
Studies have found that measures of the calming effect of animals, such as decreasing heart rate in humans, can occur in the presence of animals (Kruger & Serpell, 2010). Additionally, Oxytocin has been shown to play an essential role in social bonding with animals (Nagasawa et al., 2009). Oxytocin is a hormone that can decrease activity in specific stress-related systems in the body, and Oxytocin is often increased in activities of social bonding and connection (Nagasawa et al., 2009).
It has been found that owners’ oxytocin levels increased by the frequency of their ‘dog’s gaze’ (Nagasawa et al., 2009). The ‘dog’s gaze’ is when the dog looks into their owner’s eyes, similar to when a human baby smiles and gazes at their parent (Nagasawa et al., 2009). This reciprocal behaviour facilitates the attachment system. Attachment is enhanced because mutual eye contact makes humans feel more connected to their dogs and emotionally supported (Nagasawa et al., 2009). Pets can have biologically calming effects on their owners’ nervous systems, and this means that pets have the potential to help manage anxiety and increase positive feelings.
Increased Engagement in Activities
Pets have also been shown to help manage mental health symptoms and emotionally challenging situations by providing a mode of distraction (Brooks et al., 2018; Brooks et al., 2016). Pets may decrease anxiety or improve mood. Pets have been shown to contribute to a sense of stability, routine, and purpose in an individual’s life.
Pets have been shown to contribute to individuals developing routines that provide emotional and social support over time. Pets help mental health symptoms by establishing routines and influencing behavioural activation (Brooks et al., 2018). Behavioural activation can counteract some adverse symptoms of mental health challenges, such as low mood, by leading the person to engage in positive and productive activities.
Exercise is also a very effective treatment for managing mental health symptoms. Pets, such as dogs that require daily exercise, inherently can increase their human’s exercise levels (Christian et al., 2016). Dog walking increases motivation and can encourage a consistent exercise routine (Christian et al., 2016). Previous research suggests that dog owners are more physically active than those without dogs (Westgarth et al., 2019).
Overall, pets can provide many mental health benefits for their owners. Pets have the power to enhance social connectedness and support, increase inner calm, and enhance and motivate owners to exercise and have a routine.
Take careful consideration before committing to a pet
Although Pets can certainly have a very beneficial impact on people, its important to note that getting a pet is not appropriate for all individuals.
The cost of responsible pet ownership (e.g., food, vet bills, pet sitters etc) should not be underestimated. The time and responsibility (another living being will depend solely on you for survival and companionship) required needs to be carefully considered. These responisiblities can be very stressful for some people.
Sadly, many people adopt an animal without fully thinking through the extent of responsibility and cost involved. Many animals end up on pet-rehoming sites or in shelters. If you have any doubts about whether a pet will be beneficial and reasonable, please talk to someone knowledgeable (someone with a pet) or a therapist to help ensure pet ownership is right for you. Feel free to contact us if you want help deciding.
By Jena Hattle Mpsy
Edited by Dr. Barbera c. Psych
References:
Brooks, H. L., Rushton, K., Lovell, K., Bee, P., Walker, L., Grant, L., & Rogers, A. (2018). 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(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-018-1613-2
Brooks, H., Rushton, K., Walker, S., Lovell, K., & Rogers, A. (2016). Ontological security and connectivity provided by pets: A study in the self-management of the everyday lives of people diagnosed with a long-term mental health condition. BMC Psychiatry, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-1111-3
Christian, H., Wood, L., Nathan, A., Kawachi, I., Houghton, S., Martin, K., & McCune, S. (2016). The association between dog walking, physical activity and owner’s perceptions of safety: Cross-sectional evidence from the US and Australia. BMC Public Health, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3659-8
Martin, F., Bachert, K. E., Snow, L., Tu, H.-W., Belahbib, J., & Lyn, S. A. (2021). Depression, anxiety, and happiness in dog owners and potential dog owners during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. PLOS ONE, 16(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260676
Kruger, K. A., & Serpell, J. A. (2010). Animal-assisted interventions in mental health. Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy, 33–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-381453-1.10003-0
Nagasawa, M., Kikusui, T., Onaka, T., & Ohta, M. (2009). Dog’s gaze at its owner increases owner’s urinary Oxytocin during social interaction. Hormones and Behavior, 55(3), 434–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2008.12.002
Westgarth, C., Christley, R. M., Jewell, C., German, A. J., Boddy, L. M., & Christian, H. E. (2019). Dog owners are more likely to meet physical activity guidelines than people without a dog: An investigation of the association between dog ownership and physical activity levels in a UK community. Scientific Reports, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41254-6
