World of Psychology
6 Ways Pets Relieve Depression
I was astounded that this creature was capable of the empathy that I so craved in my closest friends and relatives. It was like she could read the pathetic and sad thoughts that disabled me and wanted me to know I was lovable in the midst of my suffering.
She continues to be a supportive presence in my life, especially on the days that I grow weary of trying on — and throwing out — every mindful exercise and cognitive behavioral strategy… the hours where staying positive seems impossible. She gets it. I know she does.
Every week I hear tales of four-legged creatures becoming angels in times of terrifying darkness. Indeed, a substantial body of research indicates that pets improve our mental health.
How? Here are a few ways.
1. Pets offer a soothing presence.
Studies indicate that merely watching fish lowers blood pressure and muscle tension in people about to undergo oral surgery. That’s why all the aquariums in dentists’ offices! Think of the behavior Darla in Disney Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” would have exhibited without the fish tank.
Other research shows that pet owners have significantly lower blood pressure and heart rate both before and while performing stressful mental tasks — like, say, performing a family intervention or supervising kids’ homework. Finally, persons recovering from heart attacks recover more quickly and survive longer when there is a pet at home. It seems as though their mere presence is beneficial.
2. Pets offer unconditional love and acceptance.
As far as we know, pets are without opinions, critiques, and verdicts. Even if you smell like their poop, they will snuggle up next to you. In a Johns Hopkins Depression & Anxiety Bulletin, Karen Swartz, M.D. mentions a recent study where nursing home residents in St. Louis felt less lonely with some quiet time with a dog alone than a visit with both a dog and other residents.
The study enrolled 37 nursing home residents who scored high on a loneliness scale and who were interested in receiving weekly half-hour visits from dogs. Half of the residents had quiet time alone with the pooches. The other half shared the dog with other nursing home residents. Both groups said they felt less lonely after the visit, but the decrease in loneliness was much more significant among the residents that had the dogs all to themselves. In other words, at times we prefer our four-legged friends to our mouthy pals because we can divulge our innermost thoughts and not be judged.
3. Pets alter our behavior.
Here’s a typical scenario. I come through the door in the evening and I’m annoyed. At what, I don’t know. A million little snafus that happened throughout the day. I am dangerously close to taking it out on someone. However, before I can do that, my Lab-Chow walks up to me and pats me, wanting some attention. So I kneel down and pet her. She licks my face, and I smile. Voila! She altered my behavior. I am only agitated a little now and chances are much better that someone will not become a casualty of my frustrations. We calm down when we are with our dogs, cats, lizards, and pigs. We slow our breath, our speech, our minds. We don’t hit as many people or use as many four-lettered words.
4. Pets distract.
Pets are like riveting movies and books. They take us out of our heads and into another reality – one that only involves food, water, affection, and maybe an animal butt – for as long as we can allow. I’ve found distraction to be the only effective therapy when you’ve hit a point where there is no getting your head back. It’s tough to ruminate about how awful you feel and will feel forever when your dog is breathing in your face.
5. Pets promote touch.
The healing power of touch is undisputed. Research indicates a 45-minute massage can decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol and optimize your immune system by building white blood cells. Hugging floods our bodies with oxytocin, a hormone that reduces stress, and lowers blood pressure and heart rates. And, according to a University of Virginia study, holding hands can reduce the stress-related activity in the hypothalamus region of the brain, part of our emotional center. The touch can actually stop certain regions of the brain from responding to threat clues. It’s not surprising, then, that stroking a dog or cat can lower blood pressure and heart rate and boost levels of serotonin and dopamine.
6. Pets make us responsible.
With pets come great responsibility, and responsibility — according to depression research — promotes mental health. Positive psychologists assert that we build our self-esteem by taking ownership of a task, by applying our skills to a job. When we succeed — i.e., the pet is still alive the next day — we reinforce to ourselves that we are capable of caring for another creature as well as ourselves. That’s why chores are so important in teaching adolescents self-mastery and independence.
Taking care of a pet also brings structure to our day. Sleeping until noon is no longer a possibility unless you want to spend an hour cleaning up the next day. Staying out all night needs some preparation and forethought.
Psych Central News
Alternative Treatment Kava Shown to Reduce Anxiety
Lead researcher Dr. Jerome Sarris, from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, said that GAD is a complex condition that significantly affects people’s day-to-day lives. Current medications have a modest clinical effect and new effective options are needed.
“Based on previous work, we have recognized that plant-based medicines may be a viable treatment for patients with chronic anxiety,” Sarris said.
“In this study we’ve been able to show that kava offers a potential natural alternative for the treatment of chronic clinical anxiety. Unlike some other options it has less risk of dependency and less potential for side effects.”
The roots of the kava plant have long been used to make a drink that has sedative and anesthetic effects. It is consumed throughout the Pacific Ocean cultures of Polynesia, including Hawaii, Vanuatu, Melanesia and some parts of Micronesia.
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, also found that genetic differences in neurobiological mechanisms called GABA transporters may affect response to kava.
“If this finding is replicated, it may pave the way for simple genetic tests to determine which people may be likely to have a beneficial anxiety-reducing effect from taking kava,” Sarris said.
The eight-week study involved 75 patients who had been clinically diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. The participants were given either kava or placebo, and anxiety levels were regularly assessed.
Those in the kava group were given tablets twice per day consisting of water-soluble extracted kava (peeled rootstock) for a total dose of 120mg of kavalactones for the first three-week controlled phase. In cases of non-response, this was increased to a double-dose twice per day for the second three-week controlled phase.
Participants in the placebo group took matching dummy tablets in the same manner.
At the end of the study, the kava group showed a significant reduction in anxiety compared to the placebo group. For those diagnosed with moderate to severe GAD, kava had an even greater effect in reducing anxiety.
In the end, 26 percent of the kava group were in remission from their symptoms compared to six percent of the placebo group.
Kava was also well-tolerated. The findings showed no significant difference among the two groups for liver function, which had previously been a concern for kava’s medicinal use.
Furthermore, there were no significant adverse reactions that could be attributed to kava and no difference in withdrawal or addiction between the groups.
Another novel finding of the study, recently published in Phytotherapy Research, was that kava increased women’s sex drive compared to those in the placebo group. This is thought to be a result of the reduction in anxiety, rather than an aphrodisiac effect.
Source: Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology
Kava plant photo by shutterstock.
Art, Music & Dance Can Help Ease Anxiety, Depression in Cancer Patients
“People with cancer very often feel like their body has been taken over by the cancer. They feel overwhelmed,” said Dr. Joke Bradt, a music therapist from Drexel University in Philadelphia.
“To be able to engage in a creative process… that stands in a very stark contrast to sort of passively submitting oneself to cancer treatments,” said Bradt.
Researchers analyzed 27 past studies of nearly 1,600 people who were randomly assigned to receive some form of creative arts therapy or not, during or after cancer treatment. Most of the patients had breast cancer or a type of blood cancer—such as leukemia and lymphoma.
Music, art and dance therapy programs varied in how often the sessions were held and over what time span. Over half of the programs did not involve counseling with trained therapists.
Overall, patients with cancer who were assigned to creative arts treatments reported less depression, anxiety and pain and a better quality of life during the programs than those who were put on a wait list or continued receiving typical care.
For example, in one 2010 study, listening to half an hour of familiar music dropped pain levels in half for 42 percent of hospitalized patients, while just eight percent of those in a comparison group experienced relief.
Those in creative arts therapy did not report being any less tired than patients assigned to a control group. And most of the other benefits discontinued once therapy ended, the researchers reported in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
Researchers noted that the benefits tied to creative arts therapies were small, but similar to those of other complementary techniques such as yoga and acupuncture.
Lead author Timothy Puetz, Ph.D., from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., said researchers have believed music and art therapy may help cancer patients “for a long time,” although rigorous studies have been lacking.
“People have really broadened their perspectives on what is health and have moved beyond just the physical,” said Puetz.
“More and more clinicians and certified creative arts therapists… they’re actually reaching out to each other now, and discussions are on the table to try to bring this type of therapy to cancer patients.”
Bradt said that, for some patients, working directly with an arts therapist may be most helpful, but it isn’t essential. For example, anyone looking to refocus away from the anxiety of a cancer diagnosis and treatment can join a choir or an art class.
“We all know that music or art or just aesthetic beauty in general makes us feel better,” she said. “I do not want to underestimate the power of just the arts by themselves.”
Source: JAMA Internal Medicine
Abstract of cancer and music photo by shutterstock.
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