Animal Assisted Therapy - Research Paper Example

Animal Assisted Therapy Pets help inmates in correctional facilities and juvenile offenders to learn empathy and compassion. Dogs can help reluctant readers read. Seniors have discovered that a properly socialized pet can help them maintain independent living. In short, wherever people have special needs, someone with creativity and an animal with the proper temperament can probably create an imaginative way to being pets and people together for mutual benefit (Welcome to the World of Animal-Assisted Therapy and Animal-Assisted Activities) Animal Assisted Therapy is gaining popularity at present because of the utility of pet animals in improving health conditions of patients. “Animal assisted therapy can be defined as the utilization of animals as a therapeutic modality to facilitate healing and rehabilitation of patients with acute or chronic ailments”(McGuirk, p.6). It is a type of therapy which involves the assistance of an animal in improving the physical, psychological and social wellbeing of a patient. Pet owners have known the health benefit of animals well before the animal therapy was introduced by the medical science. It is not necessary that animal therapy alone may successful in curing chronic diseases; however in combination with other therapies like physical and cognitive therapies, animal therapy found to be extremely useful in reducing mental stress, Cholesterol, high blood pressure etc. Animal assisted therapy is suitable for animal lovers. Children often establish deep relationships with pet animals. Apart from improving the physical and mental health, the presence of beloved animal can help children in improving their learning skills, memory, vocabulary, motivation etc. Though it seems possible that the novelty of the experiences themselves cause such improvements in children, therapy animals do provide them with the sort of emotional support humans novelty cannot, leading to improved physical and mental states.  The physical interaction with animals or the presence of animals can help children and animal lovers reduce their mental stress. Increased mental stress is the most prominent reason for many of the physical, psychological and social problems faced by children. In many of the cases, children may become problematic when they were unable to get the necessary love and care from the parents and beloved ones. Most of the current parents are professionals and they give more importance to their profession rather than their children. The absence of parents forced children to spend majority of their childhood time with pet animals like dogs, cats, birds etc. Thus many of the children establish deep relationships with pet animals. In some cases, such relationships are even stronger than their relationships with their parents. The presence of loved ones is always providing comfort to a person when he is in critical conditions. Children who loved their pet animals more than anything else may become relaxed in the company of such animals. Human love and animal love are entirely different. Human love in many cases is conditional whereas animal love is unconditional. Animals do not expect anything in return to the love they extend towards their owners. On the other hand human always expect something in return for the love they provide to another person. In other words, animals can establish much deeper relationships or love affairs with its owner. In recent years, it has been proven that by owning a pet, or just by being around dogs or other animals, one may enjoy several health benefits. These include: Lower blood pressure, Reduce cholesterol levels, Increase life expectancy, Ease loneliness, Improve communication, Foster trust, Reduce the need for medications by providing a diversion from pain, Improve cognitive functioning, Improve physical conditioning, Decrease stress and anxiety for patients and their families, Provide unconditional acceptance, especially for improving body image, Motivate patient to quicker recovery, Greater risk taking, May be able to alert to an impending seizure etc (McGuirk, p.5) Kurtz (2008) also expressed similar opinions as expressed by McGuirk. “Interactions with animals are believed to reduce stress, increase motivation and sense of wellbeing, promote positive interactions and increase communication skills” (Kurtz, p.39). Most of the physical and mental diseases affect our body when our mental health becomes damaged. A person with agitated mind may always vulnerable to diseases. When the mind becomes agitated, heart needs to work hard to increase the blood flow and oxygen flow to brain in order to settle the agitated mind. This is a biological mechanism automatically performed by human body. However, the hardworking of heart may result in some kind of physical problems like high blood pressure and cholesterol. Animals can prevent children and animal lovers from getting excited and to reduce the metal stress level and thereby reducing the necessity of hard work by heart. Animal assisted therapy “is often effective in increasing patient’s responsiveness, giving patients a pleasurable experience, enhancing the treatment milieu and helping to keep the patients in touch with the reality” (Snyder and Lindquist, p.176). The presence of pet animals may help the children and animal lovers to come back to the real world from an imaginary world. When happens to be in critical conditions, patients often think more about their life after death and thereby they may develop psychological problems also along with physical problems. Such thoughts often lead them towards an imaginary world. The uncertainties about life after death may increase their agony and discomfort further and further. No human interventions can help them in such occasions. Animals can taste success in such situations where human failed miserably. In other words, the presence of animal can bring the patient back to the original world of reality. Barker and Dawson (1998) have made the above points much clearer. In their research they found that; Statistically significant reductions in anxiety scores were found after the animal-assisted therapy session for patients with psychotic disorders, mood disorders, and other disorders, and after the therapeutic recreation session for patients with mood disorders. Animal-assisted therapy was associated with reduced state anxiety levels for hospitalized patients with a variety of psychiatric diagnoses, while a routine therapeutic recreation session was associated with reduced levels only for patients with mood disorders. (Barker and Dawson) Epilepsy is one of the major diseases found among children mostly. Nobody can predict when a child with epilepsy can develop seizure. No human intelligence is capable of predicting the occurrence of epilepsy accurately. On the other hand, many of the pet owners are of the view that animals may have better abilities in predicting the occurrence of seizure among epileptic patients. A survey done in 1990 showed that of 77 subjects with epilepsy, 10% reported that their pet dog could predict when they are going to have a seizure and 28% reported that their dog stayed with them when they had a seizure and helped prevent them from injuring themselves (Weintraub et al, p.117) The above findings clearly show that animals may have better abilities in forecasting incidents which are going to happen in the near future. There are many reported cases, in which animals warned public about the occurrence of natural calamities. Even though it is difficult to prove, it is widely accepted that animals have superior abilities in predicting calamities which are going to happen in the near future. Thus, children or adults with epilepsy can definitely take advantage of the superior abilities of pet animals in predicting seizure. “Animal-Assisted Therapy Provides a Unique Support and Inspiration to Kids with Disabilities”(Pet Therapy). Children with disabilities may not be able to play with other children. For example, it is difficult for a child who has polio to move freely like other normal children. Lack of self-esteem is often witnessed among such children. Animals can help such children in developing their self-esteem. Pet animals always treat normal and physically handicapped children in the same manner. They can provide the much needed company to the physically handicapped children and keep such children in good metal shape. Richard Ruchman, MD, from Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey, presented the findings of his study recently at the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) 2011 Annual Meeting. His major findings are given below; Animal therapy may improve patient satisfaction with medical care, and may reduce anxiety associated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Animal therapy is likely to have fewer adverse effects than treatment with pharmacological anxiolysis. Therapy dogs could substitute for antianxiety medication when patients are preparing for an MRI. The role of animal therapy is to distract the patient's thoughts from the MRI, thereby reducing patient anxiety (Pullen) According to Dr Sunny Chunkapura, resident medical officer of St John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, "When one enjoys being around animals, the body produces endorphins that encourage antibody production, which in turn, speeds up healing. It is a supportive therapy which enhances the effectiveness of other forms of therapy” (Freud In Furs: Animal-assisted therapy is finally here). To conclude, animal assisted therapy can be used as a supplementary therapy or combinational therapy with other forms of physical, pharmacological or psychological therapies. Animal assisted therapy can help therapists in some cases where all the other forms of therapies were failed. Animal assisted therapy can provide the necessary emotional support to children and animal lovers in their efforts to come out from difficult physical and mental disorders. Animal love is unconditional which motivate children and others to establish strong rapport with animals. Works Cited 1. Barker Sandra B. Ph.D. and Dawson, Kathryn S Ph.D. “The Effects of Animal-Assisted Therapy on Anxiety Ratings of Hospitalized Psychiatric Patients”. 1998. American Psychiatric Association. Web. 20 May 2011. 2. “Freud In Furs: Animal-Assisted Therapy is Finally Here”. Web. 20 May 2011. 3. Kurtz Lisa A. “Understanding Controversial Therapies for Children with Autism, Attention Deficit Disorder, and Other Learning Disabilities”. 2008. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2008 4. McGuirk, Kathleen. “Animal Assisted Therapy At the Children’s Specialized Hospital”. 2001. Web. 20 May 2011. 5. Snyder, Maria and Lindquist, Ruth. “Complementary/Alternative Therapies in Nursing”. 2006. Springer Publishing Company, 2006 6. “Pet Therapy”. Web. 20 May 2011. 7. Pullen, Lara. C. Ph.D. “Animal-Assisted Therapy Can Decrease Anxiety Before an MRI”. Web. 20 May 2011. 8. “Welcome to the World of Animal-Assisted Therapy and Animal-Assisted Activities”. Web. 20 May 2011. http://www.animaltherapy.net/ 9. Weintraub, Michael I. Mamtani, Ravinder & Micozzi Marc S. “Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Pain Management”. 2008. Springer Publishing Company, 2008 Read More