Gratitude is good medicine and sometimes we forget how our critters impact our lives. Here are ten ways they improve our health and, after reading, give your critter a treat and say thank you.
1. Petting, playing, and interacting with our animals will reduce blood pressure and help heart attack victims recover.
2. Research, such as that conducted by New York University, proves that having an animal companion decreases the chance of excessive stress, high blood pressure, anxiety, and depression.
3. Interactions with our companions increase beta-endorphins and dopamine levels which lower bodily stress, thus increasing pain management.
4. Having an animal companion not only fills a void for those who feel lonely or isolated;, our companions also provide us the opportunity to meet other, like-minded people who love their animals.
5. Animals will motivate us to change our lifestyles, removing us from isolation, in order to attend to their needs.
6. Interacting with animals increases dopamine and serotonin, which are needed for overall mental health and healing.
7. Studies have shown that animal companions help people with anxiety, depression, and even PTSD.
8. Our animal companions create opportunities for us to relate to others who share similar interests.
9. Pet parents will get up, day and night, to attend to their animal’s needs and will walk more on average than people without pets.
10. Animals know when their human is ill and will take steps to prevent adverse consequences. An example is dogs who can sense seizures.