Cats, dogs and in general all pets play a very important role in our life: for those who live daily with a PET, the opportunities for recognition of the benefits, on psychophysical health and well -being in general, are manifold.
In 1981 the Delta Society was founded in America who studied theMan interaction. In the official website of the company (www.deltasociety.org) the purposes of the therapeutic intervention carried out with the help of the animal are listed:
– physical purposes: improve motor skills and physical balance;
– psychic purposes: increase the verbal interactions between the individuals of a group, improve the skills of attention, learning, encourage the development of relational and recreational skills, increase self -esteem, reduce anxiety, reduce loneliness;
– Educational purposes: enrich the vocabulary, recover the short and long -term memory;
– motivational purposes: improve socialization, stimulate the desire to be involved in group activities and improve interactions with other people.
But the role of dogs and cats and many other pets is not limited to this: it can go beyond the company and friendship being human-animal. In the human being, in fact, the interaction with animals causes the release of endorphins, serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin: the so -called happiness hormones.
So coexistence with a pet has apositive influence on the quality of life Of the person: the animal with his attitudes distracts, stimulates the smile and the game, with his need for care and attention he marks the day and promotes greater physical activity and greater self -care, responsible and returns unconditional affection, reduces insulation, apathy and solitude, relaxes and gives security.
In fact, the pet works works as a catalyst and social lubricant (term coined by Mugford and Comisky in 1975), opens communication channels with the outside, creates social cohesion, facilitates the formation of aggregations.
At the base of thebeneficial effect of the animal man’s interaction There is certainly the strong communicative and socializing ability of the animal itself: for this reason, pets are used in Pet Therapy projects, a sweet therapy based on animal man interaction that arrived in Italy in 1987 and which in recent years has seen born in many Italian cities hospital, community and home programs; In fact, each Italian region has within hospitals, penitentiary, schools, recovery and RSA community, Pet Therapy projects.
The term Pet therapy He was coined in 1964 by the infantile psychiatrist Boris Levinson to describe the use of a pet animal in the treatment of psychiatric pathologies: Levinson discovered that when his dog was present in his study, the children with mental disorders followed by him were attracted to the animal, they acted more spontaneously and related more easily with the therapist.
The dog performed a mediator function by facilitating communication exchanges and creating a facilitated setting in which children felt more comfortable and could freely manifest their emotions and sensations.
Subsequently, Levinson described his experience in the book “The Dog as Co-Therapist”, officially raising the role of the animal in the psychological treatments to co-therapist and coined the term pet therapy to define the therapies based on the benefits of the man-animal relationship.
There “Therapy through the animal” It is therefore based on the relationship that is unsuitable, individually or in a group work, with the animal employed, and supports the therapies in place by assisting and strengthening the obtainable effects.
The goal of this type of therapy, in fact, is not to treat diseases but to arrange the patient to the therapies, improving his psychological state in order to face the therapeutic path in a better way, removing discouragement, depression, cognitive and social isolation.
Today the Pet therapy It is aimed at people with emotional, cognitive and relational sphere disorders of all age groups. Pet therapy interventions may benefit subjects in evolutionary age with psycho-physical handicap problems or behavioral disorders, children and adolescents in situations of socio-family unease, adults with depressive or anxious syndromes, people who present communication difficulties of various kinds, elderly people in situation of solitude and demotivation.
During the sessions of Pet Therapy the anxiety is lowered, the value of blood pressure, blood sugar and heartbeat is reduced and, after, after, the levels of cortisol and endorphins, wellness hormones, are increased.
The presence of an animal, in the case of children, Stress, anxiety, fear and pain decreases determined by the disease or situations deriving from hospitalization and promotes social interactions also in subjects with particular needs.
A study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders specifies the social role that plays the pet for the human being. The authors of the aforementioned study examined 70 families with autistic children and young people with an age between 8 and 18 years.
70% of families had a dog in the house; In other families there were other species of pets such as cats, rabbits, birds and in some cases spiders.
In these subjects, scholars have recorded a whole series of improvements related to the presence of the domestic animal: in communication the animal served as a mediator making the conversation more fluid.
All subjects have shown a strong interest in participating making the participation active and improving the communicative style by approaching more and more to goodness.
