TYH: Pets can make you happy and improve your physical health
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I love dogs, always have and always will. They have the tendency to make you feel a little happier no matter what the situation, with their little innocent eyes, and wet noses, and unconditional love.
So it wasn’t much of a surprise to me when I heard that pets can help alleviate some stress in our day to day lives. As a matter of fact owning a pet is sometimes even recommended, “We see some really interesting research that’s coming out around individuals who live with post-traumatic stress disorder. Using pets we are seeing reduce of nightmares, better sleeping patterns,” said Mary Lu Spagrud, Manager of Education and Projects at the Canadian Mental Health Association in PG.
Owning a pet is sometimes recommended to help those struggling with depression “it helps people get out, it gets them motivated, it gets them out walking, it gets you out of bed in the morning,” said Spagrud.
Studies show that a pet can serve as a distraction for people with mental illness and can prevent symptoms such as hearing voices, suicidal thoughts or rumination. There are also physical benefits such as getting better sleep, increased levels of physical activity and even serving as a reminder to eat.
