Pets and StressBy Ainsley Laing My mother used to say "you can always trust a
person who has animal hair on them". As a kid, I often pondered what this
statement means. Are people who care for animals more trustworthy? Kinder?
Gentler? Well, a recent scientific study says that people who own pets are
less stressed. Maybe not more trustworthy, but less stress WOULD indicate
greater wellness. An idea worth considering. The study examined the
cardiovascular reactivity when exposed to psychological stress of 240 married
couples, half of whom owned a pet. The researchers exposed the people to
stressful situations (mental arithmetic problems and stuff like that) in a
variety of social support conditions: alone, with pet or friend (friend present
for non-pet owners), with spouse, with spouse and pet/friend. They found that
the people with the pets had much lower rise in heart rate under such
conditions; better than with their spouse or friends. This evidence the
healing help pets provide has been anecdotal for years. Hospitals, retirement
homes and other caring facilities have used pets to help promote wellness with a
lot of success. So it's no surprise, especially where children are
involved. Over the last couple of weeks, I have conducted my own experiment by
observing how the people in my family and visitors to my home relate to my cat
and, of course how my cat relates to them. My cat is a rather funny looking,
very playful and affectionate youngish cat named Tony. He is a "hairless" breed,
called Sphinx. Tony has many jobs. One is to help me to write by sitting on my
lap and purring loudly. He also reminds me to take breaks by standing up and
walking on the computer keyboard! I digress. One observation that is true for
all unknowing participants in my "experiment": everyone that enters my house,
friends, family members and even the FedX guy, upon seeing Tony, their face
changes and becomes somehow softer. It's as if just seeing the cat makes them
less stressed. Even the little girl who is very frightened of cats loves to
watch the cat from a distance. My partner, a high energy executive of a
multi-national company, is of particular interest to this study. When he arrives
home after work or travel, his body language is "Mr. corporate leader". After
greeting and kissing his people family members, he looks a bit more relaxed. But
it's after he picks up Tony and strokes him (usually followed by giving him some
cat food), that he appears to really relax and turn off from work. Last week,
I had a friend over who says she doesn't like cats. Later I found them on the
couch, and my friend said "this cat really feels nice to touch". Her face and
Tony's could be best described as "content". Of course the cat had a very
special extremely loud purr just for her. So, the conclusions drawn from my
very subjective experiment is that our pets really enrich our lives. It would be
safe to speculate that, yes pets reduce stress levels in their owners. If you
have a pet yourself, you probably agree! Try your own experiment.... Ask your
friends and coworkers about their pets and soak up the good feelings they
radiate. Enjoy. Source:
Cardiovascular Reactivity and the Presence of Pets, Friends, and Spouses: The
Truth About Cats and Dogs.
Karen Allen, PhD, Jim Blascovich, PhD and Wendy B. Mendes, MS
Ainsley Laing, MSc. has been a Fitness Trainer for 25 years and writes
exclusively Body for Mind eZine. She holds certifications in Group Exercise,
Sports Nutrition and Personal Fitness Training. She is also a professional
engineer and mom. To see more articles by Ainsley visit http://www.bodyformind.com
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