It turns out that sometimes the pet ownership benefits either aren’t as strong as we often believe or the drawbacks can be worse for some people. A recent (and small cohort) study in the UK looked at the “influence of animal ownership on mental health for people with severe mental illness.” The results, along with mentions of prior studies showing drawbacks, are interesting. Let’s take a look. Warning: It might challenge long-held assumptions.
Pressures of modern life — be they related to work, families, political climate, or global catastrophes — make a girl wish she could simply float away for a while and get a break from the grind. Yet, whether you face short, intense challenges or the death-by-a-million-cuts reality of lingering problems, the trick (as far as I can tell) is to stay put.
We’ve long established that Lilly, our canine heroine, responds to every shift around her. That’s true at home. It’s true when we’re out in public. It’s true in the various dog training classes we take. Yet, Lilly responds to different emotions in different ways. She finds sadness much less “scary” than frustration or anger or generalized grumpiness.
Maybe I look like I’m holding my breath a lot, but people often remind me to BREATHE amid all the stress that continues unabated, going on 15 months now. I guess that’s why I noticed that Lilly and I got into bellows-like rhythm last week and pretended we were breathing relaxation into both of us.
Seriously, I’m a weepy disaster most days from stress and fatigue, but I swear my fellow bloggers and dog friends are wearing me down with sad tales.Empathy is my strong suit and perhaps my biggest weakness.
