Jan 31, 2021

7 Ways Animals Ease Our Anxiety | 101 Anxiety Tips (#5)

Updated: Mar 21, 2023

Do animals help us ease our anxiety? Can your cat, or dog, or rabbit, or even your lizard alleviate some of your daily stress? Is it possible that watching all those adorable pet videos actually provides health benefits? Well, the answer appears to be “yes.”

In today’s installment of ‘101 Anxiety Tips,’ we present seven ways animals help reduce our stress and anxiety. And those who own pets are not the only ones who benefit. All animals, whether in nature or on an Instagram video, can provide some benefit.

Be at peace, D 😊

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Video ID: EA033

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Chapters

00:00 Teaser 01:09 Introduction 02:09 1) Companionship 03:41 2) Social 05:37 3) Exercise 07:20 4) Play 08:39 5) Nature 10:27 6) Entertainment 13:07 7) Touch 15:53 Closing Thoughts

References

“10 Ways Pets Support Mental Health.” Newport Academy. June 1, 2018. https://www.newportacademy.com/resources/well-being/pets-and-mental-health/.
“About Pets & People.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/health-benefits/index.html.
Anders, Cailtlin Jill. “Pets Are Like Superheroes For People With Anxiety.” The Dodo. June 29, 2015. https://www.thedodo.com/pets-help-anxiety-1223901348.html.
Aubrey, Allison. “Dog Owners Walk 22 Minutes More Per Day. And Yes, It Counts As Exercise.” Health News from NPR. June 12, 2017. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/06/12/532625213/dog-owners-walk-22-minutes-more-per-day-and-yes-it-counts-as-exercise.
Boyle, Matt. “Benefits of Pets for Anxiety and Depression.” Thrive Global. May 7, 2019. https://thriveglobal.com/stories/benefits-of-pets-for-anxiety-and-depression/.
Dall, P.M., Ellis, S.L.H., Ellis, B.M. et al. “The influence of dog ownership on objective measures of free-living physical activity and sedentary behaviour in community-dwelling older adults: a longitudinal case-controlled study.” BMC Public Health 17, 496 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4422-5.
Ehrenfeld, Temma. “Your Dog Can Help Your Anxiety.” Psychology Today. October 7, 2019. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/open-gently/201910/your-dog-can-help-your-anxiety.
Feldman, Steven. “Alleviating Anxiety, Stress and Depression with the Pet Effect.” Anxiety and Depression Association of America. May 22, 2017. https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/alleviating-anxiety-stress-and-depression-pet.
Hinic, Katherine, Mildred Ortu Kowalski, Kristin Holtzmann, and Kristi Mobus. “The Effect of a Pet Therapy and Comparison Intervention on Anxiety in Hospitalized Children.” Journal of Pediatric Nursing. May-June 2019 Vol. 46:55-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2019.03.003.
Hofmann, Andreas, Ah Hyung Lee, Florian Wertenauer, Roland Ricken, Joanna J. Jansen, Juergen Gallinat, Undine E. Lang. “Dog-assisted intervention significantly reduces anxiety in hospitalized patients with major depression.” European Journal of Integrative Medicine. October 2009 1(3):145-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eujim.2009.08.002.
Leonard, Jayne. Medically Reviewed by Timothy J. Legg. “Can service dogs help with anxiety?” Medical News Today. August 15, 2018. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322784.
“The Power of Pets: Health Benefits of Human-Animal Interactions.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIH News in Health. February 2018. https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2018/02/power-pets.
Renard, Chelsy. “How Cats Help Improve Mental Health.” AKC Reunite. Originally published in The Catnip Times. https://www.akcreunite.org/catsimprovementalhealth/.
Skerrett, Patrick J. “Pets can help their humans create friendship, find social support.” Harvard Health. May 6, 2015. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/pets-can-help-their-humans-create-friendships-find-social-support-201505067981.
“Survey: Pet Owners and the Human-Animal Bond.” Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI). https://habri.org/2016-pet-owners-survey.
Thelwell, Emily L R. “Paws for Thought: A Controlled Study Investigating the Benefits of Interacting with a House-Trained Dog on University Students Mood and Anxiety.” Animals (Basel). 2019,9(10):846. Published October 21, 2019. doi:10.3390/ani9100846.
Wood, L., K. Martin, H. Christian, A. Nathan, C. Lauritsen, S. Houghton, I. Kawachi, and S. McCune. “The pet factor–companion animals as a conduit for getting to know people, friendship formation and social support.” PloS one, 2015 10(4), e0122085. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122085.

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