Mental Health and Man’s Best Friend

Stroking a soft Yorkshire Terrier, cuddling a stubby Corgi, or even watching a YouTube video of silly Golden Retrievers, you notice a positive shift in your mood and attitude. It couldn’t be the dog affecting you, could it?

Scientist have used DNA evidence to discover that our modern-day domesticated dogs are descents of the gray wolf. Dogs are the first animal that humans domesticated, and there are a few competing theories about how this happened. Some scientists believe that humans may have begun taking in wolf pups and over time bred tamer and tamer wolves. Other scientist believe that only the tamest wolves were likely to rummage through human trash, and through natural selection they evolved into domestic dogs. However wolves became domesticated, in modern times, we are able to find virtually any type of dog to suit our unique needs. Do you have allergies? There is a hypoallergenic breed for you. Do you live in a small apartment? There is a small dog that may be just the right fit for you. Do you like to go hunting? There is a dog that can assist. Dogs perform hundreds of jobs, but an area that dogs increasingly occupy is the category of emotional support animal. What does this mean? Is it all just an excuse to take your pet into places they are typically not allowed?

An emotional support animal is an animal that a medical professional has determined provides a benefit to an individual with a disability. An individual with an emotional support animal must have a diagnosed disability, physical, intellectual, or psychiatric. This has become especially popular in recent years, as there are federal protections for individuals with disabilities, including housing protections. The Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 states that landlords cannot discriminate against individuals with disabilities in housing if the landlord is able to provide reasonable accommodations. In many urban areas, reasonable accommodations for individuals with an emotional support animal has come to mean a waiver of the no pets policy for the emotional support animal. A tenant wishing to obtain a waiver of a “no pets” policy for an emotional support animal may meet this burden by providing a letter from his or her physician or mental health professional: stating that the tenant has a mental disability, explaining that the animal is needed to lessen the effects of the disability, and requesting that the animal be allowed in the rental unit as a reasonable accommodation for the mental disability. Landlords are entitled to ask for supporting materials which document the need for an emotional support animal. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) allows people with disabilities to bring their service animals in public places. However, the ADA only extends these protections to dogs that have been “individually trained” to “perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.” Since emotional support animals are typically not trained for an individual’s specific disability and since emotional support animals might not be dogs, they do not receive the protections of the ADA. A public place can therefore deny an emotional support animal admission.

Although humans first domesticated dogs millennia ago, only within the last few decades have we begun to scientifically study the nature of the human-canine bond. When an individual interacts with a friendly dog, his or her blood pressure lowers, heart rate slows, breathing regulates, and muscle tension reduces. These effects are felt after only a few minutes of interaction, versus up to an hour or more for pharmacological intervention. Dogs can also help with longevity. For example, in a study of individuals who were released from the hospital after a heart attack, the individuals who had a pet at home had a significantly higher survival rate than those with no pet. Dogs may also help with anxiety and depression. One of the primary causes of depression is loneliness. This is especially true for older individuals in our modern society. In a study of individuals 60 years and older living alone, those who had a pet were four times less likely to be clinically depressed and reported feeling more satisfied with their lives.

But what about individuals without significant health problems? Great news! Everyday people (individuals without significant health problems or psychiatric diagnosis) who own pets have been shown to have higher self-esteem, be more physically fit, less lonely, more conscientious, more extraverted, less fearful, and less preoccupied, when compared to everyday people who did not own pets.

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U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2013). “Service Animals and Assistance Animals for People with Disabilities in Housing and HUD-Funded Programs” (PDF). Retrieved March 21, 2014.

Wisch, Rebecca (2015). “FAQs on Emotional Support Animals”. The Animal Legal & Historical Center. Michigan State University College of Law. Retrieved March 23, 2016.