When you have a bad day and you have a pet, you would usually cuddle with that pet. Cuddling with your pet will boost your mood and might brighten your day. Keri Rodriguez who studies the bond between humans and pets says that the biggest benefit of a pet is that they never judge you. Pets are often happy to see you and make you feel loved.
The animal’s affection benefits are beyond a temporary mood boost. Studies show that pets can reduce stress and strengthen your immune system. This might inspire people to spend more time with their pets and improve their mental health.
Your body releases a hormone called cortisol when you are stressed. A study shows College students’ stress levels before and after they play with their pets, the stress level goes down. When petting the dog/pet your body produces another hormone called oxytocin. Oxytocin is the hormone that calms your stress levels. There are many different ways to lower stress levels by the use of pets, even looking at one can reduce stress.
The presence of a friendly animal can even help people overcome specific challenges. A study in Australia, shows after a 12-week course of reading aloud to dogs, the children had improved their ability to read. Therapy dogs can help kids too, A study in 2021 shows that therapy dogs reduce kids’ anxiety while being at the dentist.
Although pets are not the number 1 solution for everything, it could be an alternative solution. Pets can be helpful in a lot of ways like being service dogs, Service dogs are not pets but they are trained to help people with some mental challenges. Dogs don’t have to be service dogs and can still help you.
You may not always have pets around but studies show that people who grew up with pets had a 40 percent chance of developing asthma and 28 percent likely to develop allergies. Another study shows that dogs can cut a person’s chance of getting type 1 diabetes in half. This means that pets can help boost your immune system. If you want to reap these benefits, you have to choose the right pet for you and your family.
