Translated by Nick R
Sometimes we don’t realize how good pets are for us or how much our lives have changed since we’ve had one.
However, several studies show how a pet can help us create healthy habits that impact our physical and mental health incredibly well.
Let me show you the benefits that pets bring to our lives (and if you don’t have one yet, convince you).
Table of Contents
Your pet can make you more sociable
Many people find it difficult to create friendships or strike up conversations with strangers, either because of shyness or even social anxiety. So having a pet, especially one that is sociable will allow you to meet many people.
Take your dog out for a walk or to play in the park and you’ll surely meet many pets and their owners.
Likewise, pets help you to express your thoughts and feelings better as they won’t judge you of course. This will also help you to have better self-esteem and thus have more fruitful personal interactions.
In a research conducted by the University of Western Australia, Harvard T.H, in which they interviewed 2700 people, it was found that “Pet owners were 60% more likely than non-pet owners to meet people in their neighborhoods that they had never met before”.
Pets are unconditional friends
Pets make us one of the best friends we could ever have, even if they don’t talk to us, we can feel their unconditional support.
Those of us who have pets know they understand us more than you might think and how great confidants they are when we don’t want to talk to someone else about our problems.
You’ll never feel alone again
Related to the aforementioned, pets are ideal companions. Many people live alone or feel they lack companionship even if they live with other people.
Well, pets, whether they are dogs, cats, rabbits, or hamsters… will make you feel safer, and always accompanied. They will be with you at all times, on happy days, but even more so on sad days.
Pets help people with heart disease
Yes, pets can actually reduce the risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases, just by being our companions.
Some studies conducted on pet ownership have associated lower blood pressure in people who have pets. One example is an Australian study that found “that pet owners had significantly lower systolic blood pressures than those without pets despite having a higher body mass index and similar socioeconomic profiles.”
Physical activity with your pet
Pets, especially dogs, help you have better physical health. Just think of the many benefits to your physical health of taking your canine for a walk.
Pets have different physical needs that we must make sure to meet, such as exercise and play. When we go for a walk or play with them in the park, we are leaving behind our sedentary life.
So, there will be fewer chances for you or your canine to suffer from diseases such as obesity and the ones that derive from it, such as diabetes.
Say goodbye to stress and anxiety
Having pets can help you avoid or combat emotional and mental issues that may be seriously impacting your mood and psychological health.
“Pets help to decrease psychological disturbances, reduce the feeling of loneliness and increase the feeling of intimacy, leading to the search for the preservation of life in sick people” (The influence of pets on human life).
Precisely for this reason, some animals are specially trained as assistance pets to help people in different psychological therapies.
“The motivation of patients increases with animal interaction”, where patients who previously refused to attend therapy sessions, only attended the day the therapy animal was present at the session. In addition, patients stayed for a longer time in therapy on the day the animals attended.” (Pets: Medicinal Friends?)
Pets make you a more responsible and organized person.
If you have a pet, you know perfectly well that this depends on you; you must make sure you feed and water them, maintain good hygiene, vaccinations, and exercise…
To achieve all this, you must create habits and routines that will help you keep your schedule organized for each activity. Your pet needs a lot of your time, so you must be more organized to give them what they need to enjoy a good quality of life.
Of course, some pets need more attention than others, but all of them will need you to dedicate some time to ensure their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. So, double benefit!
I hope now that you know the benefits of pets for humans, you’ll appreciate your pets even more, and even dare to get one for the first time.
