Do Pets Help with Mental Health?
Do Pets Help with Mental Health?
Who doesn’t love spending time with their furry friends? If you have a pet, you know how much joy comes from hanging out with them. You also may have noticed they are able to help lift your mood—even when you are feeling down.
Below is more information about how pets are able to improve our mood, and even help with our overall mental health!
How Do Pets Help with Mental Health?
There are a variety of ways that your dog or cat can help with your mood and mental health. These include:
Releasing “Feel-Good” Hormones
Spending time with your furry friend and giving them a good pet can actually increase our serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine levels! These feel-good and love hormones help with feeling more upbeat, energized, connected, and motivated.
Lower Stress Levels
A 2018 study showed that therapy dogs can actually help with lowering levels of stress! If you have a pet, you may know this intuitively. Simply cuddling up with your pup or kitty and giving them a good pet can calm you and increase your levels of happiness.
Exercise
Particularly with dogs, pets can help us to get more exercise. Something as simple as taking a dog for a walk or playing with them helps to reduce depression and anxiety, while releasing endorphins, cortisol, dopamine, and more.
Decreases Loneliness
It can be extremely tough to go home after a long, stressful day to an empty house. Simply having a furry friend greeting us at the door and spending time with us can decrease levels of loneliness and the depression associated with it.
Reach Out for Additional Support
While pets can help us in a lot of ways, they aren’t a replacement for professional mental and behavioral health treatment. If you are suffering from a behavioral health, substance use, or dual diagnosis disorder and you would like additional support, reach out to Front Door Health.
Front Door Health provides in-home treatment for patients when they need it. We take a scientific approach to treatment, and we create custom treatment plans for our patients to increase their chances of success. Our treatment process is client-focused and individualized. This means no group sessions with strangers and no “treatment as usual” approach. You are unique and the treatment plan we create for you is designed to meet you where you are along your journey and help you to reach your recovery goals.
We understand that it can be difficult to put your life on hold and take time off work or school. Our in-home treatment allows patients to continue to meet their school, family, pet, and other obligations while receiving the treatment they deserve. As we provide in-home treatment, you’ll have immediate access to your pets right after your sessions instead of saying goodbye for weeks at a time!
If you would like to learn more about in-home treatment, contact Front Door Health today. We’re happy to answer any questions and provide you with the help you need.
info@frontdoorhealthcenter.com
