Thoughts, traumas, toxins and dogs?
In the past three years, America has been plagued with anxiety, depression, and toxic thought patterns. 2.7 million American youths are battling massive depression. 42.5 million Americans fight anxiety on a daily basis. These mental health battles are a root to what causes subluxations in the body. Traumas, toxins and negative thoughts attack the nervous system, resulting in health symptoms and dysfunction.
Although anxiety and depression are real problems people face, a remedy to these problems are just as real. It has been shown that dogs help alleviate the symptoms of many mental health conditions that many Americans face today. You read that correctly. The remedy to mental health battles is not some magic pill a medical doctor prescribes, it’s your dog!
Animal companionship has been shown to help humans for centuries. We will be discussing how your dog can help you live a life with decreased toxic thoughts that plague the nervous system!
- help battle loneliness
Dogs have been shown to increase serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin levels in those who own them. These hormones are the hormones that make you feel happy and good! For example, oxytocin is called the “love hormone” because it helps in the development of the bonds you form with those around you, including your dog. Owning a dog can help you feel loved which in turn decreases loneliness.
Have you noticed that no matter how you feel or what you’ve done throughout the day your dog seems elated when they see you? Love and the need to feel love from others is a human need. Dogs provide unending amounts of love that combat stress, sadness, and loneliness. Studies have shown that during times of isolation, dogs have boosted mental health and provide an improved well-being in the humans they love.
- Dogs can improve heart health
For many years, research has found that there is a correlation between owning dogs and lower blood pressure. In 1988, one specific study demonstrated that petting dogs can help lower heart rates and blood pressure. A second study found lower blood pressure in those who owned dogs or other pets compared to those who did not.
Research continues to show us the benefits of owning dogs.
One study reported that pet owners have lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Owning a dog has also helped heart attack patients recover and live longer. This research is the reason that the American Heart Association states that having a dog could reduce the risk of heart disease!
- Dogs help reduce stress and anxiety
Stress has more effect on your health than just a rough day at the office. High stress in the body and the mind suppresses immune function. High amounts of stress and toxic thoughts also contributes to the creation of a supportive environment for the development of cancer. This is why it is so important to manage the levels of stress in your life!
Dogs provide a remedy for the level of worry in your life. Decreased worry in turn causes stress and anxiety levels to drop. Interacting with dogs also reduces levels of cortisol or the “stress hormone”. A study done in 2015 found that children who grew up with dogs had lower levels of anxiety. College students have also had improvement with levels of anxiety when working with therapy dogs!
- Dogs help treat depression and PTSD
Since the covid pandemic and quarantine, depression levels had skyrocketed in American society. Since the pandemic, nearly half of American citizens reported battling depression. With the epidemic of depression running rampant, therapists and psychiatrists have used dogs to help with the treatment due to their ability to reduce depression levels.
Service dogs have major success in improving the mental health of their owners. These dogs are prescribed for veterans who suffer from PTSD. These dogs provided aid to these veterans’ PTSD by lowering depression, improving resilience, and improving overall wellbeing of the veteran’s psych. A 2013 study found similar benefits of dogs reducing worry, loneliness and even irritability.
- Dogs can help make life easier!
Dogs have even been shown to help those who have mental health problems by performing specific tasks. Dogs can be trained to alert those who have hearing problems, warn those who have seizures and open doors for those in wheelchairs. These types of tasks dogs can provide takes massive amounts of stress off of those who struggle with these types of ailments. With decreased stress comes increased confidence in those who own dogs!
Knowing how damaging stress is to your mind and your nervous system, now is the time to take action to reduce stress in your life. Owning a dog or any other type of pet will help you in your home life tremendously! Another system to use alongside owning a dog is to ensure your nervous system is healthy by getting adjusted! If you ensure you get adjusted on a frequent basis and own a dog that loves you, stress will be far from disrupting your health!