If you’ve ever felt your anxiety lift as you pet your dog or your purring cat, that’s science at work. Studies have measured the biological responses of humans interacting with their pets.

Oxytocin, a hormone associated with bonding, has been found to increase in both humans and dogs when a bonded pair interacts. Petting a dog for just 2 minutes or even making eye contact for 15 seconds can trigger an increase in oxytocin, which may last in the body for 5 to 10 minutes or more. Research has also found that cortisol, a stress hormone, may decrease as owners play with their pets.

Animals sometimes help people improve their mental health through animal-assisted intervention, or AAI, which includes service animals, therapy animals, and emotional support animals, or ESAs. In a pilot study, people with serious mental illness were paired with a dog or cat as a new ESA. Within a year of receiving their new pet, the owners expressed many ways in which their companion helped with mental illness recovery, including a relief of anxiety and/or depression symptoms upon interacting with their pet. This study encourages more research into emotional support animals.

Keep in mind that emotional support animals are usually not trained to perform tasks like service animals are. That might mean your own pet at home is providing you with some emotional support. Many owners have reported that their mental health improved overall due to their pet’s unconditional support and acceptance.

More research is needed to fully understand the bond between humans and their companion animals. In the meantime, thank your pets for their positive influence on your mental health.

Special thanks to Aviva Vincent, Cleveland State University, for reviewing today's episode.

Learn more

• Humans have been hanging out with cats for almost 10,000 years
• Why you shouldn't pet that honey badger
• Cats AND Dogs are Wild Animal Killers

Sources

Exploring Benefits of Emotional Support Animals (ESAs): A Longitudinal Pilot Study with Adults with Serious Mental Illness (SMI), Human Animal Interaction Bulletin Volume 10, No. 2, Pages 1-19.

Oxytocin-gaze positive loop and the coevolution of human-dog bonds, Science.org

Loneliness, Depression, and Physical Activity in Older Adults: The Therapeutic Role of Human–Animal Interactions, Anthrozoös.