More than just cute companions, pets can benefit your physical and mental health
No matter what kind of day you’ve had, a pet can boost your mood the second they enter the room. They have this way of lighting you up inside like no human ever could. There’s a reason for this, and it’s not just the influence of their irresistibly cute faces.
Katherine Ponte with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) says this mood boost is largely because pets can tune into our emotions and make us feel better when we’re down. They distract us from negative thoughts and provide a being for us to talk to without a time limit and without making us feel like a burden. They listen without the criticism, interruptions, and unsolicited advice that humans tend to give.
Pets inevitably respect their owner’s confidentiality and accept them, regardless of any mental illness or physical disability they might have. This often gives owners confidence and makes them feel like they have a purpose again.
Ponte says that in providing you with a sense of purpose, pets can subsequently improve your quality of life. They can reduce stress levels, feelings of loneliness, and intrusive or suicidal thoughts. They also promote exercise and the physical and mental benefits that come along with it: commitment to routines, feelings of accomplishment, fresh air, and community interaction, to name a few. Even simply petting or playing with your pet is beneficial.
Research has shown that petting a dog results in higher levels of activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which processes social and emotional interactions. Petting a dog also causes your brain to release serotonin and dopamine, two mood-enhancing chemicals that are often low in people who suffer from depression.
Those living with a mental illness or physical disability can also benefit from pet ownership. Options include emotional support animals, therapy animals, and service dogs. While emotional support animals aren’t always trained like service dogs or therapy dogs, they know how to comfort, calm, and unconditionally love their owners.
Pets can be a great addition to households, bringing pure love and joy into our homes and improving lives. As Ponte says, “animals can offer the support that we may lack and complement the support that we have.”
For more information, visit NAMIGreenvilleSC.com.
Pets Provide New Leash on Life
While serving in the US Army from 1981 to 2005, Sergeant First Class Jacqueline Acosta received several serious injuries during her deployment to Afghanistan, including a fractured back. This, along with the mental trauma from her time in the service, also left her with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. To aid her transition back into the civilian world and to help ease her pain during the process, the US Department of Veterans Affairs provided her with her first service dog, Buddy. But when Buddy died in 2020, Acosta was heartbroken. “I truly felt I was going to die,” she says. “I fell into a deep depression and hardly left my home.”
In early 2021, Acosta found hope again through Service Dogs for Veterans (SD4V) and the Greenville Humane Society. This newfound hope was a brown-and-blue-eyed dog named Zelda. “[She] was so loving and looked at me like she knew me . . . ,” Acosta shares. “Now, as a trained service dog, Zelda gives me the strength to get out and travel . . . and be among ‘the living’ again.” Over the past two years, the pair have gone on several road trips together. Acosta, who credits Zelda with saving her life, says her pup “continues to be a treasure.”
Read more about Acosta’s story in the Greenville Humane Society’s 2021 Community Impact Report.
Just the Facts
- 70% of US households own a pet
- 80% of pet owners and 85% of non-pet owners say that their interactions with pets reduce loneliness
- More than 60% of people with a chronic mental health condition consider their pets as important as family members or other close relationships
Thinking of Adopting?
The Greenville Humane Society partners with Pets for the Elderly, allowing the Humane Society to give adoption discounts to people ages 65 and up. For more information, check online at petsfortheelderly.org or greenvillehumane.com.
