An expert has said that being around a dog promotes ‘positive’ chemicals in the brain, lowers blood pressure and even helps relieve stress and depression.
Dr. Jane Manno, a psychiatrist at the Cleveland Clinic, praised the benefits of dogs today, saying that walking, petting, or even sitting with them helps boost serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain—someone elevate the mood.
And because they require regular walks, Manno often tells patients who are anxious or depressed to get one. Animals get their owners out of the house more – helping to create a sense of purpose and fighting feelings of isolation.
Several studies have shed light on how keeping a dog can improve one’s health and improve their mood. Statistics show that one in three American households — or 48 million — also own a dog.
Walking dogs help people get out of the house, which can help create a sense of happiness and ensure that people feel less isolated (stock image)
Cleveland Clinic psychiatrist Dr. Jen Manno talks about dogs
Revealing the benefits of having dogs, Manno said: ‘Just being around animals physically releases certain positive neurotransmitters in the brain.
‘Studies have shown serotonin and dopamine’ [are released], so there is a biological component. It lowers blood pressure, it lowers the stress hormone cortisol.
He added: ‘[A dog] makes you feel good It is a commitment. You are doing something for the greater good, you are also meeting people and also with animals.
‘So yes, it has a lot of benefits, and it gets you out of the house, especially if someone is in isolation all the time.’
Manno also pointed to a March paper this year, which found that just 10 minutes a day with a dog reduced feelings of pain, anxiety and depression.
It was not clear whether Manno himself had a dog.
Psychologists have been pointing to the health benefits of owning a dog for years.
The Mental Health Foundation, based in the UK, says they help increase physical activity and provide support – all of which improve one’s mood.
It also gives them confidence boosts, as animals can act as great listeners, offering unconditional love and not criticizing you.
Dogs can also help in meeting new people, as dog owners often stop and chat with each other on walks.
There are several programs across the United States — including in Washington state — focusing on getting therapy dogs to hospital patients.
Dr Max Pemberton, a psychiatrist in Britain’s NHS who also writes for the Daily Mail, wrote last year that drugs often turn to animals for help when medicine fails to ease one’s suffering. .
Describing one case, he wrote, I remember talking to a middle-aged woman whose 14-year-old son died of cancer a few years back.
His world was crumbling, he explained. She felt it as if someone had kicked her out of her – she felt completely empty and hollow. She wanted to crawl into bed and never get up again. But she couldn’t. She had two more children and she needed him.
Just before his son died, they bought him a dog.
He explained how the dog woke him up every morning because he had to walk before the kids got up.
He forced her to dress, to structure her day. When the kids were at school and she was home alone, she didn’t mind if she wanted to cry.
He didn’t judge her when she wanted to roll over on the couch and instead came and lay down next to her. He said that somehow he could feel her sadness and knew that he just needed someone with him, quietly but steadily keeping his company. ‘The dog saved my life,’ he told me.
(This story has not been edited by seemayo staff and is published from a rss feed)