5 Ways your Pet can Relieve You from Depression

Having pets around not only makes you feel better, but also teaches you compassion, empathy and loyalty. Spending quality time with your pets tends to have a positive effect on your mood and mental health. Pets can act as great stress relievers and actually uplift your mood when are depressed.

Connecting with your pet instantly improves your mood and makes you forget your worries with their unconditional love and care. Here are 5 ways in which your pet can relieve depression and make you feel better.

1. A healthy heart: If you own a dog, you are less likely to get heart diseases. Spending time with your dog, going for walks and jogs, playing in the park, etc. will keep you active and maintain a normal blood pressure. Activities with your pets will also curb any sadness in your heart, at least for the moment. You will have a routine to follow, and this will keep you distracted from your source of depression.

2. Stress relief: Petting your pet dog, cat or rabbit will soothe your mind and help you get rid of any kind of stress. Depression causes a lot of stress, and if you hug or lay down with your dog, you are likely to feel better and get much more relieved from stress. A relaxation hormone is released by the body which brings down stress levels.

3. Pets enable you to connect socially: If you are depressed, you may feel like connecting with new people for feeling better. Your pets can help you with this. If you walk down a road with your dog, it is likely that people approach you and start a conversation with you. 

4. A better mood: If you are depressed for a long time, getting a pet dog can change your life. Pet owners are happy people and are more trustworthy than normal people. If you feel lonely and depressed, a pet dog can provide you better company and happiness than a human at times. You will have a new meaning in life and would love to take care of your pet and raise him healthy. Your general mood will be much improved.

5. Unconditional love: The best thing about pets and especially dogs is that they will love you unconditionally. No matter what you do, they will always love you the most and come to you wagging their tail. A loving touch has an incredible healing power and hugging your pets will make you happy and less depressed.

Pets are an amazing way to get relief from depression. Having a pet around makes any atmosphere much livelier. Raising a pet is like raising a child, and thus you will remain distracted and won’t have time to think about your reason for depression.