Essay On Pet Therapy

Depression and loneliness are things that are quite prevalent in today’s society. People have been trying to find many cures for these illnesses, but one treatment in particular stands out to me, pet therapy. Many people are animal loves and have found animals to be helpful with depression and loneliness. Research shows that the use of pets can help with signs of depression, loneliness, and other forms of anxiety. Having a pet can help a person physically, but also can help them mentally and emotionally as well. Most people think that service animals are only for people with a physical disability, such as a Seeing Eye dog for someone who is blind, or a dog for the hearing impaired, but there are also animals that are specially trained to help people with anxiety. These trained animals, mostly dogs, can help their owners out of a situation where their owner may become anxious or stressed. They also are trained to sense when their owner is about to have an anxiety attack and notify others around them of the attack. These animals could also be used to help an anxious person remember to take their pills, turn off the lights, or waking them up (More Than Just a Pet). …show more content…
There is a study that had people do a series of timed math problems, some participants with dogs in the room and others with no dog. While doing the problems, the participants with dogs in the room had lower heart rates than the participants without a dog in the room (pets and health). Therese J. Borchard also makes a similar claim when explaining one of her situations when a pet helped her feel calm during a stressful time. She mentions a study that tested patients’ blood pressure during oral surgery and their heart rates were lower when there was a fish tank in the room (Borchard). From these studies one can conclude that just by having an animals in the room people can lower their heart rates and relieve