Pet Therapy Essay

1032 Words3 Pages

Many people in the world today suffer with problems such as anxiety and depression. As a way to treat these problems, those people should use animal-assisted therapy. Animal-assisted therapy (also known as pet therapy) is used in many hospitals and is growing more every day.
Over 71 million American households (62%) have a pet, and most people think of their pets as members of the family. Some research studies have found that people who have a pet have healthier hearts, stay home sick less often, make fewer visits to the doctor, get more exercise, and are less depressed. Pets may also have a significant impact on allergies, asthma, social support, and social interactions with other people (Casciotti) .
The therapy involves mostly dogs but can be used with other …show more content…

Effects of pet therapy are seen in the patient 's attitude and mentality, the road to recovery is a little bit easier. The patient can have a more clear mind going into the rest of his/her procedures or treatments into getting better. The best thing about pet therapy is that it helps with almost any mental or physical illness. Although it may not fully cure the illness, the process can still a play a huge part in how the main treatment effects the patient. This just goes to show all the causes and effects of pet therapy. It all starts with patients who need a boost to help get them through whatever process it takes to make them better. Once patients accept to take the therapy all they needs is “10 or 15 minutes” (staff ) a day and one can see significant changes in the patient 's attitude. This change in attitude is a huge turn in the right direction when going through a treatment process. It truly is amazing how all it takes is a little time with an animal to give one the ability to find the will to fight and live another

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