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How Pets are Powerful Anxiety Reducers

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There are many different methods for reducing your anxiety, probably an infinite number if you are willing to sit down and really consider them all. Several of the lesser-known methods include using biofeedback (see How Biofeedback Works for information on this), Nintendo Wii (see Using Nintendo Wii to Recover from Anxiety), and deciding to live outside the box (see Causes of Anxiety: Living in the Box). Another creative and lesser-known method that helps to reduce social anxiety is having a pet.

For many of us social anxiety disorder sufferers, we feel absolutely dead and lifeless inside because of the difficulty social anxiety brings. Then, our external world begins to reflect the state of our internal world. In the external world, we experience few, if any, joyful relationships; we have few friends; we have nowhere to go where we are appreciated; and, we have nowhere to go where we can make a contribution. We are merely existing, not living.

Personally, I believe that we can use changes in our internal world to create change in our external world and vice-versa. Many times, we are so dead inside that we are unable to comprehend how change could happen, and it seems as though the dull and lifeless life we live now is the way we are meant to be. The important word in that sentence though is seems. Change is always possible, and in some cases it has to happen from the outside in. Having a pet is a great way to reduce anxiety and stress. If all we do is spend time messing around on the Internet, watching TV, or playing videogames, we are not truly living, just existing. A great way to move from a mindset of existing to a mindset of living is to get a pet.

Everybody has their own preferences as to what kind of pet is best, but my personal favorite is dogs, followed by cats. Other kinds of pets are great too, but it seems that the best kind of pet is one that you can have a relationship with, as it gets you farther outside of yourself than would a pet that requires little maintenance. Dogs are a great example and are one of our country’s favorite pets, probably because they are the most like humans of all the different animals. You can have a fairly deep relationship with a dog. He gets happy when you are happy; he lays his head in your lap when you are feeling down. He likes to chew up your slippers and make a mess when you are not around. And, best of all, if you get a dog at a young age, you can train him to act the way you want.

The commonality of all these different examples is that they all force the person with social anxiety to get outside of his or her head. Rather than living in an isolated prison, the person with social anxiety disorder is now engaged in the process of life. Being engaged in the process of life increases one’s happiness. Having your dog chew up your slippers or your couch can be a very good thing for moving past your social anxiety. How? It forces you to be present and find a solution to a problem. It draws some emotion, anger, and you are able to express it on a target that will become saddened by your anger. You are now living life.

While dogs can bring additional difficulty to life, they bring much more happiness and joy than anything. Fellas, let’s face it, women just eat up puppies. Take your puppy for a walk or run. Not only will you and the puppy have a great time bonding (it’s also a great opportunity to establish your power over the puppy and let him know the rules), but you also get some attention from others and meet some interesting people, possibly a date. Examine all the benefits just demonstrated by simply taking your puppy for a walk: you and the puppy get exercise, which is good for the puppy and for reducing your anxiety (see Anxiety & Exercise if you would like to learn more about exercise’s anxiety-reducing benefits), you challenge your social anxiety simply by making the choice to go out and be among people (see Two Steps Forward, One Step Back for more details on how challenging your anxiety is beneficial), you get outside, which is a good thing in today’s isolated and sedentary world, you get to practice your assertiveness (see Assertiveness and Anxiety to learn more tips for building your assertiveness) by teaching your puppy the rules for the walk, and finally, you will meet other people and have opportunities to spread more positive feelings in the world (see How to Create Abundance for the Social Anxiety Sufferer for more on this topic)! In the course of this paragraph, we have gone from taking an ordinary walk to conquering anxiety and making the world a better place for you and others! Would you have thought that something so simple could really have such an impact on your life and the lives of others?

Inevitably, your pet will eventually come to his own time in life where he will have to pass on. Although this will cause you a fair amount of grief and this seems to be a bad thing, for people who were previously living dead lives, experiencing the death of a beloved pet is a very good thing. Instead of remaining dead inside and being entertained by all the media, simply existing, the social anxiety sufferer is now becoming more deeply engaged with the process of life. Death is a part of life, and taking the time to experience the grief and sadness of death is something that really connects us to life. Eventually, we will move past the grief and back into our regular frame of mind, but to experience grief is really a very good thing.

The final point that I would like to close on is that pets bring us and others a large amount of joy. Now, when you talk to your friends or neighbors, you have wacky stories to tell of the crazy things your pet does. When friends and family visit, there is something that is lively and stimulating to everyone; conversation and interaction flow better. When you are experiencing the full range of emotions – love, joy, anger, and grief, then you are fully engaged in the process of life and are truly alive! If you are having a trying time with your anxiety disorder, consider getting a pet; it may just change your life!



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