Why Pets Are Good for Your Mental Health

Most pet owners would agree that spending time with furry family members is a joyful and healing experience. And while there’s no shortage of anecdotal evidence that our pets make us happy, there is a growing body of research that helps explain how they benefit our mental health and overall wellness, also known as the “pet effect.”

Health Matters spoke to Dr. Melissa Peskin, a psychologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and a clinical assistant professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine, about the ways that pets may contribute to our mental health and well-being.

In one study, researchers found that when dogs and their owners gazed into one another’s eyes, it raised oxytocin levels for both, by up to 130% for the dogs and 300% for the owners. Oxytocin is nicknamed the “love hormone” because it helps build bonds and trust between people — in fact, the way the human-canine pairs in the study continuously produced an oxytocin response between each other was similar to the way mothers and babies build bonds.

“Oxytocin is designed to promote affiliation, connection,” says Dr. Peskin. “Dogs really seemed to have co-opted this evolutionary process that presumably evolved to support parent-child bonding and social attachment. So, the fact that they can activate this oxytocin feedback loop is fascinating.”

In addition to raising oxytocin, physical interaction with pets, whether through cuddles or play, has been associated with other physiological responses that help with stress management, says Dr. Peskin. Simply petting a dog has been associated with decreased cortisol, the stress hormone, and increased endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine, the brain’s “feel-good” chemicals. Other studies have shown that interacting with dogs may help reduce blood pressure and heart rate.

Those calming effects are a major reason why animals, and dogs in particular, have been used across a variety of therapeutic settings. Pet therapy, also known as animal-assisted intervention, is when certified animals, in conjunction with a trained human handler, provide support during structured and goal-oriented sessions, often as part of a treatment plan. “Typically, these types of programs are designed to enhance physical, cognitive, social, or emotional functioning, and have been used across a huge range of settings; hospitals, mental health facilities, hospices, schools, and nursing homes have all used animal-assisted interventions,” says Dr. Peskin.

For example, therapy dogs have been found to reduce feelings of loneliness for residents in nursing homes and have been used to help veterans reduce the severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, anxiety, and depression. Several studies have also shown they may help patients better deal with emotional stress and pain management in clinical settings, including reducing anxiety for children visiting the dentist.

With kids in particular, therapy dogs have demonstrated positive developmental and emotional impacts. Some studies have shown that when children read to dogs, they were more engaged and motivated to read, and would feel a sense of achievement. Other research has shown that interacting with pets may be associated with decreased symptoms in children with attention deficit disorder and improved social skills in children with autism spectrum disorder.

“A number of studies have found that childhood pet ownership was associated with a wide range of emotional health benefits, most strongly in building self-esteem and helping with loneliness,” says Dr. Peskin. “While we don’t know exactly why, we could posit that taking responsibility for another creature promotes greater responsibility. You have to consider how your actions and behaviors are going to potentially affect the animal, so it could help with perspective-taking and in building empathy.”

Dr. Peskin says there needs to be more research that goes deeper to truly understand all the ways we benefit from our relationships with pets. “But I think it’s safe to say that there are positive outcomes associated with interacting with animals,” says Dr. Peskin. “They are non-judgmental companions who provide unconditional love and support, so it’s easy to understand why the connection is so strong.”