Seunga (Jasmine) Han, PharmD Student
Pets have a natural tendency to create bonds and show affection towards their owners. This in itself helps to create a warm and safe environment even for the most stressful days.
So, where do pets fit into medicine and mental health?
Pet therapy (aka animal-assisted therapy) is the notion of including animals as part of a treatment plan for managing a chronic condition.
What does research say?
A research study facilitated with dolphins has shown that animal-assisted therapy (AAT) was beneficial to those with mild-to-moderate depression. People with mild-to-moderate depression experienced reduced levels of depression in a study looking at animal-assisted therapy facilitated with dolphins.
In a separate study, people struggling with schizophrenia were able to see significant improvements in self-esteem and self-determination with weekly 50-minute sessions with dogs.
Lastly, there is also some body of evidence to support that AAT can have positive outcomes in those experiencing autism-spectrum symptoms, behavioural issues and overall emotional well-being.
What are the take-home points?
People struggling with mental-health related conditions may find some benefit with animal-assisted therapy. More larger-scale studies are needed before we can see where it’d be the most beneficial.
We hope you took away something valuable from this piece. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this article or others, feel free to reach out to us on Instagram, Facebook, or at ask@orbishealth.ca with your feedback. We’d love to hear from you.
RESOURCES
- Animal-assisted therapy: a meta-analysis – http://patastherapeutas.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/MetaAna%CC%81lise.pdf
- Effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24731910
