Leading a stress-free life always proves more challenging than you would’ve thought at a younger age. We long for adulthood as kids, but the older we get, the less we want it. The stresses of keeping a job and paying the bills while maintaining healthy social relationships can be quite overwhelming.
This is why many people are constantly exhausted and drained. While there are different ways to mitigate those stresses, nothing works as effectively as a pet. They are the best companions out there, and they can make life much more bearable.
Here is how animals can affect our lives positively.
Improving Physical Health
Believe it or not, animals have been shown to have significant positive effects on human health. Several studies have shown that our pet companions can help lower blood pressure as well as heart rates, especially during stressful times.
This helps you avoid several of the problems associated with high blood pressure and irregular heart rates, like cardiovascular complications, for example. Yes, having a dog or a cat can help you feel less stressed when you go back home after a bad day at work, and in the long run, having pets is ultimately better for your physical wellbeing and could help you feel healthier.
Alleviating Stress and Anxiety
As we mentioned earlier, stress and anxiety are common traits that most people share nowadays, especially among younger generations. This is why having a pet is one of the best things that you can do for your mental wellbeing. They have been shown to help reduce anxiety and stress among owners.
Moreover, emotional support animals (ESA) can especially help their owners in more ways since they can be taken anywhere. If you get an ESA letter from a licensed therapist, you can take your furry companion with you on airplanes or in housing communities where pets aren’t regularly allowed. This is because that letter recognizes that you have mental health issues and that your ESA helps mitigate the symptoms.
Helping Disabled Individuals
One of the greatest ways that animals affect us is how they help disabled individuals lead normal lives in a way, helping them overcome their disabilities. They are used by people with vision impairment, for instance, to move with some freedom without being held up by their vision problems. They are used to guide and lead such individuals who can even walk the streets with a service dog.
A service animal can also alert others if a disabled person is facing some health complications, and this is not necessarily because of training. There have been many instances where normal dogs have swum or walked long distances to alert people that their owner is in trouble. It’s just in their nature.
Protection
Animals can be trained to protect their owners’ lives and properties, and some even do it instinctively without receiving such training. Dogs have been used for protection over the ages, and they still are to this very day. But even your regular house dog can prove vital to protecting you and your family from intruders or assailants.
There have been many recorded cases where a dog’s barking alerted the house residents of intruders, and in most cases, the dogs attack them and scare them away. A dog’s love is unparalleled, and they would do anything to protect their family, and this is one of the biggest ways through which they affect our lives.
Child Development
Animals play a great role in child development. They are often used to help children with autism and ADHD, for instance, to help mitigate their symptoms and provide some comfort. On the other hand, dogs, cats, and other pets are also great for the development of children who don’t necessarily have any other problems. There’s nothing like growing up with a furry friend to teach a child compassion and kindness, and it provides them with a much-needed friend at that point in their lives. Kids who grow up with animals are often nicer and more understanding as well as empathetic, which are all values that we desperately need in today’s society.
Above all, animals are companions, and they are the best ones that you could ever find. The great thing about an animal’s love is the fact that it is unconditional and everlasting. If you left your dog for a year, you would come back to find them jumping and wagging their tails in excitement for seeing you. It is not even just cats and dogs. Horses, cows, and even ducks have been shown to carry a positive effect on people’s lives as well.
