“It’s happened faster than I expected,” says Coren, who has penned several books on dog behaviour and is a psychology professor at the University of B.C. “People are more and more starting to recognize that dogs have a therapeutic effect.”
It has long been known that dogs can help lower stress, and pet-assisted therapy, in which man’s best friend visits the sick and elderly, has been made available mostly through volunteer groups over the past decade. But Coren predicted in 2006 that we would soon see a breakthrough, that doctors would “prescribe” pet dogs to improve the physical and psychological health of people. And there are now signs that is coming true.
Most significantly, the effects of war in Iraq and Afghanistan have led the U.S. government to spend millions on a pilot program that provides trained psychiatric service dogs for war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The bill, passed by the U.S. Congress in late 2009, includes a research component to see if therapy dogs can help reduce the psychological wounds of war. “This is a huge movement and a massive change in policy,” says Coren, adding that the U.S. government is not usually at the forefront of alternative medicine.
So far, the program is showing positive results, with reports of veterans cutting or abandoning entirely their medication for stress shortly after getting a therapy dog, according to the New York Times. Coren says he’d like to see Canada follow in the States’ footsteps, providing pet-assisted therapy to war vets at home, but also move in the direction of prescribing dogs to lonely seniors.
“Seniors who live with a dog and are otherwise socially isolated, only one quarter is likely to develop clinical depression, and they use fewer medical services,” says Coren.
Research shows that petting a friendly dog lowers blood pressure, slows breathing and reduces muscle tension, all signs of lowered stress.
And an early 1990s study by the University of Pennsylvania showed that men were more likely to be alive four years after their first heart attack if they owned a dog. Coren predicts that if the “U. S. program takes off the way I expect it to,” there will be a “strong movement in that direction [elsewhere].”
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I can absolutely vouch for all of this on a personal level. Before I adopted my dog, I was dealing with some difficult emotional problems. I considered drugs but fortunately never had to go that route as Shiva gradually was able to reduce my stress levels and give me a new outlet to focus on.
I can only imagine how dog companionship would help seniors and veterans dealing with some very difficult situations. This prescription dogs program sounds interesting and I hope it sees even greater success in this new year. Thanks for writing about it.
Really interesting post!