Dogs To Cope With Stress

Stress is a natural response of the body to an environmental condition or a stimulus. Cause many symptoms such as emotional and physical discomfort, apathy, sadness, emotional instability, and many others.

Emotions change negatively (generally) when humans feel stress. The body functions change when it is cover by stress; hormones and neurotransmitters have been released that change the way it operates.

Under stress, cortisol, norepinephrine, and epinephrine increase. While the decreasing of thyroid hormones, serotonin, and dopamine, among others.

Hair loss, overweight or weight loss, erectile dysfunction, and many other consequences are attributed to chronic stress, referring to very prolonged stress. Depending on the impact of the stressful event or the length of duration of the stress, it can cause damage to brain tissue.

According to a Canadian national survey, during the 2020 pandemic, the stress rates increased by 56 percent in Canada. In January 2021, the American Psychological Association found that approximately 84% of American adults experience at least one emotion associated with prolonged stress in two weeks; 61% of US adults had unwanted weight changes in addition to other symptoms.

Image 1: Stress is a feeling that can worsen over time; loneliness is one of the dominant factors.

How do animals help?

It is clear that its benefits do not apply to all people; how do you expect to benefit if you do not like pets, animals or prefer to have them far away?

However, humans perceive a certain kind of support from their pets that helps their emotions and allow increasing interaction and engagement with other humans.

Initially, the scientific studies from the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University indicate that humans have a neurological response just by seeing an animal. Even on some occasions, the only presence of an animal can increase positive emotions.

People can take advantage of these effects. Everything indicates that the hormone Oxytocin, the love hormone, mainly mediates its effects in the brain; Oxytocin reinforces and establishes the human-animal interaction.

The medicine uses animal-assisted treatments in some stakeholders such as children with autism, veterans with PTSD, physical disabilities.

Pets can play a relevant role as a protective factor for disaster victims. Pets are beneficial during the recovery phase in coping with PTSD. Additionally, reports indicate stress reduction, social support, and mental illness management.

Interacting with animals has been shown to decrease cortisol (a stress-related hormone) and lower blood pressure. Other studies have found that animals can reduce loneliness, increase feelings of social support, and boost your mood. At the same time, give some structure and routine to your day.

In some cases, the human-animal bond can help alleviate depression, anxiety, and loneliness. A study compares how pets manage to reduce the rejection in family members; families that hold pets have a surprising improvement in these feelings.

Emotional contagion is known as the reflection of emotional states between individuals; it is commonly seen, for example, as the timing of acute stress responses. Students usually have high cortisol levels when they have teachers who experience high levels of stress.

Therefore it is a good idea to observe how your feelings affect your pet, and if they are positive or negative, you can get something of your reflection of the personality.

Image 2: Animals can provide company to people to establish a bond of love (Oxytocin).

What about the dogs?

Recently, the pandemic that began in 2020 has caused an increase in the adoption rate in more than half of the people worldwide. Good news, as there will be many improved lives, especially with the laws for quarantines to avoid the pandemic. It reflects that people were not impulsive but sought to complete an emotion by bringing a new pet into their home.

"A classic example is when your dog greets you at the door wag his tail when you get home. Your dog doesn't care how your day was or what you did; he is just happy to be with you again, and that happiness can be contagious". Say Nieforth, a researcher at Purdue University.

There is a well-established association, having a dog as a pet improves people's quality of life. Dog owners reported significantly less dissatisfaction with their social and emotional states. On the other hand, babies who grow up in households with dogs are less likely to develop allergies as they get older.

For some people, simply petting or "talking" to a dog can improve their mood; it can even cause a drop in blood pressure.

The human-dog bond has all the possible health benefits of interaction with animals, generating physical, psychological, mental well-being and the owner's happiness. Also, dogs usually require a certain amount of daily exercise, similar to human requirements, so it further potentiates to enhance your physical and emotional health.

Treatment of such diseases often involves animals; therapy dogs are especially good at solving inconveniences for humans.

Image 3: The nature of dogs makes them a fantastic species to support humans.

Acute stress and other behaviors are highly contagious both between humans and other species. 

Animals can acquire feelings of stress and despair from their owners. On one occasion, a study of 58 dog-human cases concludes that the owner's personality greatly influences the dog's mirror stress level.

However, pets are not the cure for all problems; the effects depend a lot on the person and the pet; work for some people, for others, it does not; if it works for you, good for you.

Some people in this pandemic have wondered if what they feel is simply boredom rather than stress. Stress is closely related to boredom; having nothing to do can cause the "useless" feeling, animals can give you many things to do in the day.

For humans, animals generate a contribution of companionship, feelings of interaction, connection, and a source of social support.

With all changes, people need to adapt to the problems every day, the environmental pollution increases. It causes stress, a frequent experience in everyday life. While humans and dogs are social animals, they have many compatibilities to bring friendship and love to each other.

These benefits are great in many severe diseases and can be an alternative to avoid drug use. Take care, not project too many excessively negative emotions with the animals, so you will not affect their health with a predisposition to emotional contagion.

References

• Sundman, AS., Van Poucke, E., Svensson Holm, AC. et al. Long-term stress levels are synchronized in dogs and their owners. Sci Rep 9, 7391 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43851-x.

• The Conversation. Bronwyn Orr. Man’s stressed friend: how your mental health can affect your dog.  June 6, 2019 3.31pm EDT. Link https://theconversation.com/mans-stressed-friend-how-your-mental-health-can-affect-your-dog-118271.

• Tanaka, Aki et al. “Effect of Pets on Human Behavior and Stress in Disaster.” Frontiers in veterinary science vol. 6 113. 18 Apr. 2019, doi:10.3389/fvets.2019.00113.

• CBC. Stephanie Hogan. This is your brain on pandemic: What chronic stress is doing to us.  Apr 01, 2021 4:00 AM ET. Link https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/pandemic-brain-stress-effect-lethargy-unproductive-1.5972055.

• Morgan, L., Protopopova, A., Birkler, R.I.D. et al. Human–dog relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic: booming dog adoption during social isolation. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 7, 155 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-00649-x.

• Brooks, Helen Louise et al. “The power of support from companion animals for people living with mental health problems: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of the evidence.” BMC psychiatry vol. 18,1 31. 5 Feb. 2018, doi:10.1186/s12888-018-1613-2.

• HABRI. The Human-Animal Bond for Mental Health. May 18, 2020. Link https://habri.org/blog/the-human-animal-bond-for-mental-health/#:~:text=Scientific%20research%2C%20including%20HABRI%2Dfunded,pressure%2C%20and%20improving%20social%20connectedness.

• Ranabir, Salam, and K Reetu. “Stress and hormones.” Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism vol. 15,1 (2011): 18-22. .doi:10.4103/2230-8210.77573

• Goop Q&A. Q&A with Maggie O’Haire, PhD, and Leanne Nieforth, MS. The Joy, Comfort, and Stress-Reducing Power of Pets. Link https://goop.com/wellness/health/why-pets-can-lower-stress-levels/.

• Forbes. Jackie Rocheleau. Pets Combat Loneliness And Stress For Those Isolated During The Covid-19 Pandemic. Dec 7, 2020,09:34am EST. Link https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackierocheleau/2020/12/07/pets-combat-loneliness-and-stress-for-those-isolated-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/?sh=44afcda17d70.