Last Updated on 23rd June 2023 by Caroline Haye
Animals help reduce stress and anxiety
Pet therapy for vitiligo? Are you kidding? Well, I know it sounds unlikely that keeping animals could help your skin condition. But bear with me (no bear pun intended).
The idea for this rather unusual vitiligo blog topic came to me in two ways… Both of which were the result of spending way too much time at home. Firstly, my hours of internet surfing revealed that April is National Pet Month 2020. And secondly, our cat has been delirious with delight at having both me and my husband in the house all day every day… Waiting on her hand and foot… With the result that much of each day seems to consist of pandering to her every whim. (No panda pun intended either).
While the constant cycle of grooming, cuddling, feeding and entertaining that our petite bundle of fur demands can be inconvenient (especially when trying to work from home) it is also surprisingly soothing… And a welcome distraction from all the pandemic-related media coming at us from every direction.
At this difficult time of social distancing and self-isolation, I am deeply grateful that I don’t live alone, as so many people do. But, if I were the only human living in my house, I would certainly be glad of the love and companionship of a pet, even if it was just a hamster or a budgie. Having another living being around to interact with, someone to love and who needs and loves us back, is more crucial to our well-being than most of us realise… Which is one of the reasons for the growing popularity of pet therapy.
What is pet therapy?
Just to be clear, I am not talking about therapy for your pets. (That’s a totally different blog.) No – the pet therapy I’m talking about is therapy for humans, provided by pets. These therapies, also known as animal assisted interventions, are not exactly new. In fact, we’ve been using some of them for generations.
Guide dogs for the blind and partially sighted are the most obvious example. And service dogs for the deaf is a less familiar, but well established, concept. Judging by the information on the Guide Dogs for the Blind and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People websites, the physical help these dogs give their owners is only part of the benefit they provide. At least as important as their ability to alert their owner to events and potential hazards in the world around them is the fact that they provide love and companionship. The bond between a person and their guide dog goes far beyond the practical. It can be profoundly emotional and psychologically therapeutic (to both humans and animals alike).
Does pet therapy work?
Mounting anecdotal and scientific evidence points to the fact that pet therapy does indeed work. It works very well for a number of conditions and circumstances. This article in The Guardian highlights some of the benefits of using animal interventions with a variety of conditions and the reasons why they appear to be so effective.
Nowadays, pet therapy encompasses more than practical assistance for people with physical disabilities. And it includes many species of animal, not just dogs. Thanks to pet therapy pioneer Lesley Scott-Ordish, volunteers across the UK now provide a pet visiting service to thousands of people with special needs, ranging from autism to dementia. These volunteers and their pets visit care homes, hospitals, hospices and special schools, with their service delivering a wide and impressive range of physical and mental health benefits.
The concept of pets as therapy is not just a UK initiative. In 1998 an American medical student wrote a paper proposing the use of pet therapy with patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Pairing dogs with veterans suffering from PTSD, for example, and horses with traumatised children, proved so successful that interest in this form of therapy grew. And today, The Organization For Human-Animal Interaction Research And Education at Purdue University focuses on studying the benefits of animal interventions… With a particular focus on PTSD and autism.
(Sadly, at the time of writing this blog, government COVID-19 guidelines, quite rightly, do not allow organised pet therapy services to operate visits. But those of us with animals of our own are fortunate that we can enjoy the benefits of pet therapy at home on a daily basis, even under the current circumstances… Which is just as well, given that those circumstances can become stressful.)
How might pet therapy help vitiligo?
Clearly, there’s not much that a cat, dog, horse, guinea pig or canary can do to change the genetic or autoimmune causes of vitiligo. It’s taken generations of human research to even come anywhere close to that achievement. But interaction with animals can certainly help with one of the well-known triggers for depigmentation in vitiligo, which is stress. The more we can reduce stress in our everyday lives, the more likely this is to help prevent our vitiligo from spreading.
Anyone who has ever stroked a cat, played frisbee with a dog, petted a rabbit, groomed a pony, or even fed a new-born lamb will know how stress-busting these interactions can be. The emotional response we have from physical contact and mental bonding with a cute and fluffy, or indeed a proud and majestic, animal is powerful. And in the case of vitiligo specifically, I can see the main benefits being these:
- Stress reduction… Pets induce a sense of comfort and relaxation
- Emotional support… Animals are non-judgemental. They give unconditional love, regardless of how our skin looks
- A welcome distraction… Pets’ needs and antics take us out of ourselves and away from our own obsessive and self-destructive thoughts
So, having said all of that, I suggest you immediately put down the device you are using to read this blog… And spend some quality time with your pet, if you have one. He, or she, will thank you for it. And, perhaps, so will your skin.
(Obviously, you should ensure that your choice of animal takes into account any allergies you may have. Especially if these cause irritation to your skin. See Can Allergies Cause Vitiligo?)
