Four-legged happiness: pet love heals stress

Man has used domesticated animals to help himself for thousands of years. Dogs were shepherds, hunters and guards, later they detained violators, searched for criminals on the trail. Faithfully served the owners and cats – exterminated voracious mice and rats.

And now hunting is becoming a thing of the past, the scope of service dogs is narrowing, and instead of shepherd dogs, an electronic fence is increasingly being used, ingenious traps have been invented to protect against rodents. It seems that the area of ​​animal activity useful to man is rapidly narrowing. However, the number of pets is not only not decreasing, but, on the contrary, is growing rapidly.

Contradiction? At first glance, yes. Let’s see what is behind the emotional need of a person for four-legged friends, who become practically members of the family.

Winnie the Pooh and all

Everyone is used to the fact that animals often become heroes of children’s fairy tales. We grew up falling asleep hugging teddy bears, and now we enthusiastically buy soft toys for our children. We are touched when they become attached to them – they give affectionate nicknames, going to kindergarten or school, they worry about how their friends are at home, alone.

And we hardly think about why the strongest attachment children of early age have to animal toys. Stronger than to beautiful dolls, robots and all other various playing and sparkling devices.

The answer lies, most likely, in the genetic memory – after all, man has always interacted with nature, taming animals for his own benefit. Joy from communication was at first a side effect. But now the time has come when it was this pleasant feeling that came to the fore.

The happiness of a child from the appearance of a puppy or kitten in the house can only be fully understood by those who have seen it with their own eyes. “Mom, this is the real Winnie the Pooh,” the exclamation of a five-year-old kid at the sight of a furry puppy seems to connect the fabulous and real worlds. This is a childish, still unconscious sense of harmony.

From the mouth of a baby: scientific findings matched the intuitive preferences of children

The delight of the dog at our return home, the purring cat rubbing against the leg, the merry games of the child and the pet – these touching, but hardly noticeable scenes in everyday life, turned out to be not just pleasant episodes.

Scientists argue that such fleeting pleasures protect our psyche from the destructive effects of stress caused by life’s adversities, drive away melancholy and are quite capable of preventing the development of depression.

Close contact with pets – dogs, cats, birds, and even guinea pigs – gives us a sense of calm and well-being.

It would seem that what’s new? We already know how much we love our pets and how comfortable we are with them. But now our everyday experience is getting more and more confirmation in the conclusions based on experimental studies.

Most of them asked the following questions:

• Is there a scientifically proven relationship between pet ownership and mental health?
• What is the physiological basis of this dependence?

Scientific evidence suggests that close contact with four-legged pets affects not only mood, but also physiology: caresses and games with pets help to normalize blood pressure and heart rate.

Scientists at the University of Washington at Pullman conducted an experiment in 2019 that confirmed that tactile contact with animals normalizes the level of hormones that are responsible for our reactions to stress – cortisol and dopamine, and also stimulates the production of oxytocin.

Cortisol is responsible for normal blood sugar levels and helps treat inflammation. Dopamine causes a feeling of pleasure, joy of life, motivates us to physical activity, communication, and creativity. Oxytocin, sometimes referred to as the “love hormone”, increases the need not only for love and sexual intimacy, but also for simply positive communication.

Emotional connection with furry friends stimulates the production of this hormone, which harmonizes our relationships with our own kind and thereby reduces anxiety and stress.

Furry therapists: how and to whom they can help

So far, research on pet therapy is fragmented, but the number of therapeutic programs with the participation of our smaller brothers is gradually growing. These programs are built into medical methods for the rehabilitation of patients with a variety of ailments.

Much of the scientific research has focused on dogs. One of the first canis therapy programs was created in the USA in 1960 by the child psychotherapist Boris Levinson.

The Solar Dog group, founded by Tatyana Lyubimova, has been working in Moscow for many years. According to the program developed by Tatyana, children with ASD, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy are involved. Parents and experts note that as a result of classes, children improve concentration, memory, spatial orientation, anxiety and a sense of fear decrease.

However, the beneficial effects of animals on the psyche and human health are not limited to dogs.

The American scientific journal Developmental Psychobiology published reports of good results in children with ASD after participating in programs using guinea pigs, as well as the successful correction of problem behavior in adolescents using hippotherapy – psychotherapeutic work in contact with horses.

Dogs and cats, horses and guinea pigs, as well as our other pets, become real assistants to doctors. It is quite possible that in the very near future the useful role of the same dog will be primarily associated not with hunting and not even with protecting borders, but with healing people from bad moods and from real illnesses.

The power of true love

Living in isolation, lack of relationships, feelings of loneliness contribute to depression and anxiety. Of course, pets cannot replace humans, but their unconditional love, warmth, and devotion can provide companionship, emotional connection, and vitality. These feelings curb depressive tendencies, suppress anxiety, and alleviate the discomfort of loneliness.

Random meetings with other people during walks with a dog, her funny attempts to show sympathy for a stranger can facilitate acquaintance and start a new friendship, remove the barrier in communication.

Pets bring emotional bonuses to owners of all ages. For children, having a pet allows them to take responsibility for the comfort and safety of the animal, and at the same time the child gets a playmate and good friend.

For older people, a pet reduces the feeling of loneliness and gives them a reason to plunge into the element of play. And the dogs are literally “pulled out” into the street in order to take a walk in the fresh air for mutual benefit.

Even for teenagers and young adults, pets help reduce stress and provide unconditional acceptance, so necessary in times of crisis and self-doubt.

Think for yourself, decide for yourself – to have or not to have

No, no, no need to worry. We don’t have to buy a horse. But it will be quite useful to comprehend the results of the work of scientists and draw practical conclusions. There are more and more arguments in favor of the fact that pets improve our health.

Increasing self-esteem and the ability to socialize, increasing vitality, preventing dementia, reducing the damaging effects of stressful situations, reducing anxiety, reducing the risk of depression, a positive effect on the cardiovascular system, strengthening immunity and the ability to cope with pain – this is not a complete list of how tailed friends help us.

So the decision about whether we need paws and tails in the house remains with each person personally. It is important to measure your strengths and capabilities and choose a pet that we can take care of. Or opt for other ways to establish harmony with yourself and with the world.