Pets can Boost Your Mental Health During Lockdown

People with pets suffered less psychological stress in lockdown because sharing your home with a cat or dog boosts mental health and decreases loneliness, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal PLOS ONE. Researchers quizzed over 6,000 Britons on stress and mental health and found that more than 90 percent stated their pet helped them cope emotionally during the lockdown.

The researchers recorded how people coped with the lockdown measures enforced during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, between 23 March - 1 June 2020. Lead author Dr. Elena Ratschen, says the people who reported poor mental health also scored highly for the strength of their bond with the pet.

However, 68 percent of pet owners informed having been worried about their animals during the COVID lockdown. For example, they wouldn't know who would look after their pet if they fell ill.

"We also learned that in this study, the strength of the emotional bond with pets did not statistically vary by animal species, meaning that people in our sample felt on average as emotionally close to, for example, their guinea pig as they felt to their dog.

Dr. Ratschen added: "While our study revealed that having a pet may mitigate some of the harmful psychological effects of the COVID-19 lockdown, it is important to learn that this finding is unlikely to be of clinical significance and does not warrant any suggestion that people should acquire pets to protect their mental health during the pandemic."

Source-Medindia