Battling Depresssion? Why not try handling a pet?

Battling Depression ? Why not try handling a Pet ?
While nothing can replace the human connection, pets can bring joy and companionship into your life and help you feel less isolated. Caring for a pet can also get you outside of yourself and give you a sense of being needed—both powerful antidotes to depression.
Consider the following studied facts about pets:

1. Dog owners are less likely to suffer from depression than those without pets.
2. People with dogs have lower blood pressure in stressful situations than those without pets. One study even found that when people with borderline hypertension adopted dogs from a shelter, their blood pressure declined significantly within five months.
3. Playing with a dog or cat can elevate levels of serotonin and dopamine, which calm and relax.
4. Pet owners have lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels (indicators of heart disease) than those without pets.
   Heart attack patients with dogs survive longer than those without.
5. Pet owners over age 65 make 30 percent fewer visits to their doctors than those without pets

One of the reasons for these therapeutic effects is that dogs fulfill the basic human need to touch. Stroking, hugging, or otherwise touching a loving animal can rapidly calm and soothe us when we’re stressed or anxious. The companionship of a pet can also ease loneliness, and most dogs are a great stimulus for healthy exercise, which can substantially boost your mood and ease depression. Besides this, pets like dogs help us meet new people and make us develop a routine which are very important tips to battling depression.
Lalemi Mary