PETS N' STRESS

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Pets Control Blood Pressure Better Than Drugs:
Yes, it’s true. While ACE inhibiting drugs

can generally reduce blood pressure, they aren’t

as effective on controlling spikes in blood pressure

due to stress and tension.

However, a groups of hypertensive New York

stockbrokers who had dogs or cats were found to have

lower blood pressure and heart rates than those

who didn’t have pets. When they heard of the results,

most of those in the non-pet group

went out and got pets!
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Pets Encourage You To Get Out And Exercise:
Whether we walk our dogs because they need it,

or are more likely to enjoy a walk when we have

companionship, dog owners walk more than

non-pet owners, at least if we live in an urban setting.

Because exercise is good for stress management

and overall health, owning a dog can be credited with

increasing these benefits.
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Pets Can Help With Social Support:
When we’re out walking, having a dog with us

can make us more approachable and give people

a reason to stop and talk, thereby increasing

the number of people we meet,

giving us an opportunity to

increase our network of friends and acquaintances,

which also has great stress management benefits.
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Pets Stave Off Loneliness and Provide

Unconditional Love:
Pets can be there for you in ways that people can’t.

They can offer love and companionship, and can also

enjoy comfortable silences, keep secrets and are

excellent snugglers. And they could be the best antidote

to loneliness. In fact, research shows that nursing home

residents reported less loneliness when visited by dogs

than when they spent time with other people!

All these benefits can reduce the amount of stress

people experience in response to feelings of

social isolation and lack of social support

from people.
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Pets Can Reduce Stress—

Sometimes More Than People:
While we all know the power of talking about

your problems with a good friend who’s also

a good listener, recent research shows that

spending time with a pet may be even better!

Recent research shows that,

when conducting a task that’s stressful,

people actually experienced less stress when their pets

were with them than when a supportive friend

or even their spouse was present!

(This may be partially due to the fact that

pets don’t judge us; they just love us.)
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It’s important to realize that owning a pet

isn’t for everyone. Pets do come with additional work

and responsibility, which can bring its own stress.

However, for most people, the benefits

of having a pet outweigh the drawbacks.

Having a furry best friend can reduce stress

in your life and bring you support

when times get tough.

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Elizabeth Scott, M.S.

About.com: Stress Management

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(The human in the photos above is my wife - Lynda.

The dogs are ours - two "pound puppies"

and a stray. The white guy is Duffy,

salvaged from the streets of Phoenix;

the black part-hound posing as Aunt Jemimah

is Ziggie; and the brown mutt in the car

with my wife is Priscilla,

a 16 year-old beast with a big heart,

but very few teeth.

Good dogs, all of them.)

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