Pet Mental Illness

Most people will agree that pets play a large role in their lives. Pets are there to offer comfort. A new study found that people with serious psychological disorders (module 12), a pattern of behavioral and psychological symptoms that causes significant personal distress, might especially benefit from the companionship offered by pets. When asked, people with bipolar disorder (module 12), a mood disorder involving periods of incapacitating depression alternating with periods of extreme euphoria and excitement, and schizophrenia identify their pets as being a major source of help. People with mental illnesses sometimes live isolated from others and have limited contact with the health care system, but pets offer a form of companionship, which

The participants were then given a diagram with three consecutive circles radiating out from a square representing the participant. They were asked to write the people, places and things that gave them support into the circles, with the circles closest to the center being the most important. 60 percent of those who considered animals to be part of their social network placed them in the center, representing the most important members of their social network alongside family and social workers. 20 percent placed their pets in the second circle. Many of those surveyed said that pets provided non-judgmental companionship and a distraction from their disorder. Animals have a calming effect on people, and can help relieve stress (module 10),events that we appraise as threatening or challenging. People with mental disorder can benefit from the routine of taking care of a pet and gain of sense of pride from

Getting up in the morning to feed them and groom them and walk them, giving them structure and a sense of purpose that they won 't otherwise have.” Having a pet cold serve as a form of motivation (module 9) for a severely depressed person to get up in the morning.Mark Longsjo, the program director of adult services at McLean Southeast, an inpatient mental facility in Middleborough, Mass., says that the interviews in the study reflect his professional experiences. "We have so many patients come through, and we always ask them about their support system. Sometimes its family members, sometimes its friends, but it 's very common to hear about pets." Longsjo has found that animals help keep people with mental illnesses from following through on suicidal thinking, because they know their pets depend on them. Pets are helpful for a subjectives well-being (module 9), self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Brooks hopes that health workers will consider her study and make pets part of people 's care plans. Including pets in a patients care plans would be a part of evidence-based practice (module 13), which is clinical decision-making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise and patient characteristics and