Animals and well-being

By Leo O’Neill

This article is about how animals can benefit your wellbeing and make you feel better. Wellbeing is important because it can help your mental health and help you cherish life. 

1. What is well-being?

Well-being can be defined through three different aspects: feeling good about yourself, enjoying moments in life, and being calm and in control. 

Let’s look at these three aspects in more detail. 

Firstly, well-being is when you feel good about yourself and the things around you. It can make you feel proud of yourself, which can give you immense self-confidence. Well-being can also help you feel good about your surroundings, and make you more aware of things going on around you.

Secondly, well-being is about enjoying life’s moments. It allows you to feel appreciative and enjoy even the smallest things in your life. A relative’s birthday, a visit to a friend’s house, or dinner with grandparent — all these seemingly minor events matter to your sense of well-being.

Lastly, well-being is when you are calm and in control. This means being composed in a situation that puts you under significant pressure. Being calm enables you to stay in control of your emotions in moments of uncertainty and choosing whether a problem should bother you or not. 

2. How are animals connected to well-being? 

Animals can help well-being in many ways. Taking care of them can help you stay active and outgoing. Their company can give you a daily sense of purpose and make you feel at ease. These factors can help individuals with stress or other mental health conditions.

So, how do animals do this?

Firstly, animals help well-being by making you stay active, by encouraging you to play with them, take them out for exercise, or making regular trips to pet stores to buy food or toys. When taking a dog for a walk for example, you can stay socially active by speaking to other dog-walkers. For example, according to a study published by UK-based charity group Dogs for Good in May 2022, results showed that people are more social towards dog-owners with disabilities compared to non-pet owners with disabilities. It was found that dog-owners with disabilities had four times as many meaningful conversations per month compared to disabled people without dogs. This study highlights how having an animal companion not only alleviates loneliness, but also helps generate social connections with other people.

Another way animals can help well-being is by giving you a sense of purpose. Their reliance on you for food and care gives you a daily reminder of how important you are to them. Taking initiative and responsibility for a pet can help construct a purpose.

Finally, the company of an animal can make you feel calmer and more relaxed, thereby immensely improving your wellbeing. For example, one study in Hungary showed that people with autism immediately felt less tense and more comforted upon touching a hamster. We also see examples of animals making people feel better when having to confront challenging situations. For example, some airlines allow pets on flights to comfort people who have a fear of flying. 

The contribution of animals to well-being is also supported by science. Interacting with animals causes the release of different hormones in the brain, such as endorphins and oxytocin. These hormones make you feel calm, cozy and cheerful.

Overall, animals are social companions who can help a person’s well-being in different ways. Not only are animals great fun to be around, but they also have a scientifically proven positive impact on the way you feel about yourself.