Animals are valued as companions, which has an impact on the quality of the human life. A statistic shows that “over 71 million American households have a pet.” (Dana Casciotti, n.d.) Animals can have an enormous affect physically and mentally for humans. They have been used to conduct many experiments for things such as physical therapy, and even mentally ill patients. Animals bring joy into their owners lives, they bring a feeling of security, and compassion, so what exactly is animal-assisted therapy and what can it do for patients with a mental illness? It is a type of therapy that involves animals as a form of treatment. The essential goal of what is also referred to as AAT, is to improve a patient’s social, emotional, or cognitive functioning. Animal-assisted therapy is used anywhere between patients with autism spectrum disorder, PTSD, and in this case Dementia. Dementia is well known as a form of …show more content…
When a person is diagnosed with dementia, they are being diagnosed with a set of symptoms. This can be related to someone who may have a sore throat. Their throat is sore but their symptoms and causes are unknown. The family doctor would propose that it could be allergies, strep throat, or a common cold. Similarly, when someone has dementia they are experiencing symptoms without being told what is causing those symptoms. (A Place for Mom, Inc., n.d.) Also, Alzheimer’s is not a reversible disease. Until this day, there is no cure for the mental illness. Whereas some forms of dementia, such as drug interaction, vitamin deficiency, and as well as animal-assisted therapy is reversible and can be temporary. Even though dementia can be reversed or temporary, at this point in time over 47 million people worldwide are affected with this mental illness. Each year 10 million cases are diagnosed, and by the year 2050, that number is expected to almost triple! (Dementia,