Research shows pets affect your health physically and mentally

By Lisa Rademakers
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

“In New York City, the biggest growing population is women over the age of 85 who are living alone. How do you reduce issues of loneliness, isolation, and boredom among that population?” asks Melinda Lantz, M.D., chief of geriatric psychiatry at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York.

For some, the answer could be a companion animal— also known as a pet.

According to the Humane Society of the U.S., there are approximately 65 million pet dogs and 77 million pet cats in the United States.

Relieving social isolation
Research shows pets can help reduce feelings of anxiety and loneliness. A case study in the journal of Clinical Geriatrics finds pets provide the benefit of constant companionship for people who may not have family or friends close by, or who might not get out that much.

The case study describes an 89-year-old widow who lives alone and complains to her doctor that she feels nervous, anxious, and lonely. She asks her doctor for a pill to combat her feelings of loneliness. But, “Medication doesn’t target loneliness and boredom,” says Lantz, an author of the study.

Evaluated by a physician and a psychiatrist, the doctors find the woman is experiencing social isolation. As defined by the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine, social isolation is “the absence of social interactions, contacts, and relationships with family and friends, with neighbors on an individual level, and with ‘society at large’ on a broader level.”

The woman’s doctor contacted an animal shelter and the woman received two kittens. She started to refer to them as her new family, talked to them, and let them sleep with her. As a result, the woman said she felt less anxious and fearful, and also had better control over her diabetes.

Improving physical health
People who own pets tend to have better physical health than non-owners.