Pets And Stress Contact Me - Click Here


Pets And Stress

If you are not a pet owner, the relationship between pets and stress levels will probably surprise you.

While there are some natural stressors that go along with owning a pet:
  • Added expense of food and care
  • Additional messes to clean
  • Added responsibilities
There are more health benefits to you that outweigh the stressors.

Research on pets and stress levels

There has been quite a lot of research done regarding pets and their impact on stress.

In one study conducted at UCLA, they found that dog owners actually needed much less medical care for stress-induced aches and pains than non-dog owners.

In another study done at the University of Buffalo, they assessed the effect of pets social support on:
  • heart rate
  • blood pressure
  • renin reactivity
in response to mental stress in a group of 48 stockbrokers, all of whom were being treated with lisinopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor used to treat hypertension.


What they found was that,

“If you have high blood pressure, a pet is very good for you when you're under stress, and pet ownership is especially good for you if you have a limited support system."

Pets and their health benefits to you

Just as there is a BEST in all of us that is impacted by stress, so are there holistic benefits to having pets that can positively impact your life.

B ody and stress reduction
  • Dogs encourage you to walk them frequently
  • Animals, in general, will increase your activity level because there is always something needing to be done to appropriately care for them.
  • Reduce stress-induced symptoms
  • Lower blood pressure
  • Add years to your life expectancy
E motions and stress reduction
  • Reduce the feeling of lonliness
  • They always can make you smile and laugh
  • They are the best pure source of unconditional love
S pritually and stress reduction
  • Increase your social support
  • Increase owner’s sense of self worth
  • Increase owner’s sense of safety
  • The spirit of an animal has untold abilities to connect you to something greater than yourself
T houghts and stress reduction

When you focus on your animal, you are not focusing on your fears, worries, or thoughts of uncertainties.

In my humblest opinion, animals are one of the most sacred gifts that we have been given. The unconditional love is, I believe, one of the main reasons why they are so effective in relieving stress.

As my mother once told me, “Love is all there is.”

There is a definite connection between pets and stress levels. We owe them a ton of gratitude for all the ways that they just naturally love and heal us.








Share Your Tips, and Ask Questions Too

In the world that we live in, there are many causes of stress. Actually, many stressors. If you have a question about what causes stress, or have a stress tip, please share it here.

Enter the Title of Your Stress Tip or Question

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

pets effect on stress  Not rated yet
I have a good friend who is going through so much in her life right now. I can't help feel that her having a pet would help her somehow. Can you tell ...






Return From Pets And Stress To Articles On Stress

Return From Pets And Stress To Coping With Stress Home


Pay it forward!

There a lot of people who have become overwhelmed by stress and how to get rid of it. I can understand this feeling. But it does not mean that good information is NOT out there. It is.

Please help a friend or loved one by sharing this information with them. Email this link to them or submit this page to your Tweet account, or Facebook or your favorite social bookmarking or networking site. Use the links below to pay it forward.




Looking for a specific topic?
Search for it here:

site search by freefind advanced


Stress Tip Of The Day!

Throughout each day, the primary cause of stress is because of threats of uncertainty.

It is thoughts of fear and worry that are triggering the stress response.

Staying focused on maintaining a positive attitude is an important stress technique.



- FREE -
Control My Stress
stress management tools!


control my stress logo

Testimonials

“Ms. Churchill is the unique health care worker everyone hopes to encounter, but rarely does. She has an extraordinary gift that allows her to do much more than diagnose and treat.”
Abbie K. – Minneapolis




K., age 45, is a long term chronically PTSD disabled patient. She has had daily headaches for 20 years. Two weeks ago she reported that she had had 4 days of pain free time, and was having the exceedingly odd sensation of "smiling all the time". She and Cathi have made extraordinary fast progress together.
Dr. Cole




I referred C.L., age mid-forties, to see Cathi after a life of suffering the post traumatic stress disorder of parental sexual abuse over many years of her childhood, with major dysfunctions of alcohol and drug abuse, and with the disabling symptoms of migraine that have for more than twenty years become chronic.

She has lived with daily headaches that have not responded to any of the several drugs which have benefited many such suffering patients. She has needed chronic opiate treatment of her chronic pain syndrome.

In the few weeks that Cathi has worked with her, C.L. has begun to experience days without pain, periods of happiness, and a reduction in her opiate dosage requirements that represent a breakthrough in her stalled-out life as a single mom raising a teen-age daughter with only social security income resources.
Dr. Racer








“I first met Cathi Churchill eight years ago when she effectively helped my work unit through the stress of a hospital-wide layoff. I was impressed with her clear-minded approach and willingness to listen.”
Andy R.




N., age 60, is a hard driving attorney twenty year patient of mine who hit the wall with chronic fatigue four years ago, and began to realize she had to learn to rest. She recovered enough to return to her workaholic lifestyle when she was stopped by a herniated cervical disc and resumption of her chronic colitis.

Working with Cathi, she is discovering "the way she does life" and learning to make choices about it. She came in last week, having "danced until dawn". She is learning to dialogue with her body in effective ways.
Dr. Cole




“I stumbled upon Cathi after my recent heart attack that was brought on by stress. I was scared of having another one, and didn’t know what to do. I had lost hope. Working with her has changed my life. I’m so grateful."
Debbie – Canada




M.S., a woman in her late forties with progressively more and more disabling rheumatoid arthritis since childhood, whose most recent problems have arisen over the last two to three years as complications of immunosuppressive therapy for her disease. The complications have been associated with the severely disabling chronic pain of recurrent herpes neuralgia for more than three years, and for the past 15 months, recurrent osteomyelitis in her right lower mandible.

The second, more alarming (even life-threatening) problem has caused months of diagnostic and therapy confusion among her many consultants, three successive resections of the bone over the last six to eight months, and the still ongoing threat of more relapses of the smoldering bone infection and chronic pain only made bearable by chronic, massive doses of opiates.

In the few months since M. began to work with Cathi with several modalities: stress management, therapeutic touch, guided imaging, and others, her life has become more livable, as she has become able to bear the pain and the discouragement of unresolved disease.

She has relied on many of the methods for maintaining hope and getting through overwhelming discouragement by using the inner resources she has learned with Cathi.

My hope as her primary physician, is that Cathi and M. will be able to continue to work together to maintain that inner strength and hope as she faces yet more months of pain, and further repeated surgery.

Thank you for the healing guidance you've been able to give her thus far.
Dr. Racer




“I sought out the help of Cathi during my divorce, and found her to be an insightful and compassionate coach. Her ability to see deep into the heart of an emotionally stressful problem is, I believe, unique and I would highly recommend her service to anyone.”
P.R. – Brooklyn Center




S., age 48, is a Laotian patient of mine with 15 years of chronic abdominal pain. She has had an extensive medical worked up, and nothing ever worked. Cathi saw her over several months.

S. has improved! Cathi established a trusting relationship with her, and helped her to effectively break through her wall of silence and grief about her son's mental illness, and taught her how to "change her thinking".

S. now comes in smiling, notes some unusual continued symptoms, but no longer has chronic abdominal disabling pain.
Dr. Cole




“Control My Stress is so amazing. I want to thank you, again, for such a valuable resource.”
Tony.


coping with stress logo