Any and all pets can help kids with anxiety or OCD. But it isn't as simple as running to your local pet rescue and getting a new furry friend. There are things to consider and understand before you take on the commitment of a pet.
Adopting an emotional support animal has been shown to facilitate greater mental health in regard to a number of conditions. Among them is obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, with emotional support animals shown to ease symptom severity and bring about some much-needed relief from this disorder.
Service dogs can be introduced to people who aim to gain more control over their life, improve their daily routine and build their rational thinking. A psychiatric service dog can be an integral part of how you move through an OCD episode and how you decrease the frequency of such episodes.
Dogs are very intuitive on picking up on human emotions, especially emotions that include stress, fear, anxiousness, and sadness. Therefore, when your OCD flares up, your dog will signal that they are aware this is happening. Of course, this will differ slightly from dog to dog based on their personality.
A pet dog has been found to significantly reduce stress and anxiety in children, increase children's physical activity, improve children's immune systems, and improve cognitive development. Dogs have also been shown to improve kids' reading confidence.
"A variety of animals can become 'man's best friend,' providing comfort and affection to children and adults, and the process of caring for and loving an animal promotes healing benefits." Rabbits, guinea pigs, fish, horses, and even crickets have something powerful in common.
For those OCD sufferers who struggle with germs and contamination issues, caring for a pet can elicit many triggers. Cleaning a litter box, letting a dog lick your face, or having to tend to a sick pet are just a few examples of what OCD sufferers might have to deal with.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in Dogs
The most commonly observed obsessive-compulsive behaviors are spinning, tail chasing, self-mutilation, hallucinating (fly biting), circling, fence running, hair/air biting, pica (appetite for non-food substances such as dirt, rocks or feces), pacing, staring, and vocalizing.
Despite their feelings of frustration and distress, those suffering from OCD can lead happy, highly functioning, productive lives, full of healthy relationships. When spouses/partners, family members, friends, and colleagues are more informed about OCD, it is easier to be supportive and understanding.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder can also clearly meet ADA's requirements as the condition can substantially limit one or more major life activities. In fact, OCD is listed by the Social Security Administration (SSA) as a disability that qualifies for Social Security disability benefits.
Unfortunately, not even man's best friend is immune from OCD's influence. Pet obsessions may focus on harm, violence, contamination, scrupulosity, and sex. Obsessions focusing on pets and animals incorporate all the common themes: contamination, checking, harm, scrupulosity, and sex.
Most people with OCD (children and adults) will require therapy to learn to manage their OCD. This therapy is very different from other forms of talk therapy and involves Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). The therapy is especially effective when combined with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
By having an animal to pet, care for, and distract, people with OCD may be less likely to experience anxiety or practice their obsessive behaviors. Animals have a way of asking for a human's affections, redirecting their attention from harmful sources.
Dogs may also develop obsessive-compulsive disorder
Study authors find that certain breeds are more likely to display ADHD-like characteristics. Much of this comes down to their genes and the traits many of these breeds have been bred to display over many generations.
In some sense, however, giftedness is a dual diagnosis with Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder since intellectualization may be assumed to underlie many of the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for this disorder. Dual Diagnoses Learning Disabilities and Giftedness.
This means that someone experiencing this mental health condition might display patterns of alternating clingy behavior and a tendency to push their partner away. They might fluctuate between praising their partnership and considering their relationship doomed to fail or riddled with problems.
Retroactive jealousy OCD is a condition characterized by obsessive and intrusive thoughts about a partner's past romantic or sexual experiences. These thoughts can lead to intense feelings of jealousy, insecurity, and anxiety, even if the events in question occurred long before the current relationship began.
The two main treatments for OCD, medication and talk therapy, can be very effective for relieving OCD. 13 Medications can help relieve symptoms of OCD, and talk therapy can help people learn to manage OCD thoughts and learn to better tolerate feelings of distress.
Primarily obsessional OCD has been called "one of the most distressing and challenging forms of OCD." People with this form of OCD have "distressing and unwanted thoughts pop into [their] head frequently," and the thoughts "typically center on a fear that you may do something totally uncharacteristic of yourself, ...
In addition to your doctor, find a therapist, OCD coach, or support group to connect you with people who understand. Learn to relax. Your body can't relax if it doesn't know how. Relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation, taking a walk in nature, or drawing a picture teach your body how it feels to be calm.
Deep belly breathing is a tool to help calm down, refocus and think clearer. It increases oxygen levels in the bloodstream and decreases heart rate, breathing rate, muscle tension and stress level. Instruct your children to place their hands on their belly and chest.
Pets, especially dogs and cats, can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, ease loneliness, encourage exercise and playfulness, and even improve your cardiovascular health. Caring for an animal can help children grow up more secure and active.
Studies show that children who have a pet in their home are less likely to show symptoms of stress than those who did not. Perhaps this is because children ages 7-8 are more likely to see the family pet as providers of comfort and social confidence.