So, you’ve been feeling down lately, you got yelled at by your boss, your significant other just walked out, or maybe you are currently having a fight with them.
Your situation may not even be that serious, but you do feel pretty lonely, and you haven’t been out in a while.
Life is not looking so great.
What to do, what to do…?
Why not get a pet?
Yes, a pet.
Did you know that:
Pets Can Help with Emotional Health
Ok, this one is a bit obvious, but they are great for your emotional health! That comes with a lot of other benefits as well.
Did you know that animals (dogs, cats, and everything else) have been used in therapy?
Kathy Nelson, who is an associate emergency veterinarian, and works at the VCA Alexandra Animal Hospital found in Alexandria, Virginia, said that dogs are used in therapy to treat soldiers with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre.
This means that owning a pet may just be the way for you to let go of that dark cloud or maybe even depression that’s been on you.
A pet may serve to reduce stress as well as anxiety levels. This can be because having a pet equals having a sense of purpose and which alleviates loneliness, particularly if you are young, and feeling lost in life, or maybe even elderly.
Then as pets help with your mood and emotional health, it will natural help you to socialize and draw people to you.
Pets Can Help with Our Social Lives
Having a pet means that people will definitely notice you, not only that, but they will come talk to you.
This will happen by virtue of you walking the dog, and according to Michael Landa, who is the CEO of Nulo (a natural pet food brand) draw people to you and will prompt conversations, and then before you know it, you have new friends, who you met because they stopped you to ask about your dog.
Pets can have that effect, they also make for great icebreakers in conversations, plus they overall help to make you seem more friendly (whether this is true or not). Pets can help.
Exercise
If you have a dog, this gives you an excellent chance to exercise.
Exercise is one of those things that as adults we know we should do, just like eating healthy, but we rarely ever actually do it.
But if you have a dog, then it’s quite likely that you will get some work out in; plus, you’ll also get some much-needed vitamin D, as well as some fun.
Keep Your Heart Healthy
Pets are almost like natural stress relievers. They come into your life, and chase away all the bits of discontent and depression in your life with their adorableness and never ending energy.
Not only that, but they are amazing for your heart! Yep, their love is crazy strong. The National Institute of Health as well as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention have done many researches and have found that people who own pets tend to have lower levels of cholesterol and lower blood pressure which means that pet owners tend to have a decreased risk for heart attacks and heart related diseases.
The speculated reasoning behind this is that pets generally have a calming effect on us, which lead to us releasing tension and along with reduce stress levels. Pets can help in all sort of ways!
Fight Allergies and Spot Cancer
Pets are also known to strengthen our immune system.
Dogs can also smell cancer! Yep, research has shown that dogs can recognize the scent, especially lung cancer.
They Remind Us to Live
While the little cute litter ball of fur may seem particularly simple, we could learn a lot from him.
As we watch our pets we can see their curiosity, their sense of adventure, see how they enjoy the moment. They live life with no regrets (mostly). When did we forget to do that?
By taking care of your pet, you just might discover the real meaning of life…
