Archive for the ‘Animal Assisted Therapy’ Category
The ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and loneliness
Headed out to the ocean this weekend to deal with my social loneliness. The Atlantic is about a ten minute drive away: I like to go to a big park with a 150 year old lighthouse and views clear to Ireland. The sun was bright, the waves were huge, and the day was fresh.
At first, I didn’t feel a sense of connection, but as I walked, and felt my step bounce against the heather, and thought of the whales that would soon be in the waters all around me, I began to feel more connected.
In Lonely, I talk about “biophilia,” which is the notion that human life is intricately related to the life all around us — the idea is that we don’t exist in silos, but are rather deeply connected to the world we live in. If biophilia is true (and I think it is), then we can’t hurt the world around us without being hurt ourselves. As species die out, or become dangerously rare, we’ll begin to feel the gaps in our own lives.
And staring out at the Atlantic this weekend, and loving the sense of being part of something, I had to think about the BP oil spill in the Gulf. It’s essentially the same body of water — though I’m a lot further north. I couldn’t help but think that the damage that’s being done to the Gulf — otters! sea turtles! nesting birds! — really affects us all. When I tried to express this idea to a newspaper editor, he said I had no proof, but I could feel the proof in my own body: there was an empty feeling inside me when I thought about all the species affected by the spill.
So the trip to the shore was a mixed blessing. The ocean was beautiful, but it inevitably got me thinking about the spill, and its effects. Ultimately, I’d like us to arrive at a point where it’s normal to talk about loneliness in terms of our relationship with the natural world. This shouldn’t be seen as some off-beat, wacky idea. It’s not. Deep down, I think we are connected to the world around us, and damage to that world will hurt us in ways we might not expect.
Volunteering with animals is one thing I like
Just got a call from the animal rescue group I volunteer with, asking me to transport cats through town tomorrow (it’s a long story). My instinct was to say no. Not because of the cats (I know I’ll love them at first sight), but because of all the people involved: the foster parents, the adoptive parents, the rescue staff.
So I’m sitting on the sofa, talking on the phone with the rescue co-ordinator, and she’s saying, “Can you take the cats?” And I’m thinking that it would be very easy to make up an excuse and say no. But I said yes. And I said yes because every time I volunteer with animals (walking, transporting), I find people easier to deal with. I know that there are studies on this — in fact, the sense of trust and ease that animals trigger is one of the reasons your therapist has a cat wandering through her home office.
I’ll update this tomorrow, but I think I’m going to be happy to have done the volunteer work. I am predicting a greater sense of connection with people post transporting cats. I’m going to try to monitor my reaction and report back. More to follow….
Update: Two days later. The volunteer work did make me feel slightly more connected, but I think the animals themselves were too absent from the equation. Since I was driving them across town, they were in carriers, and I didn’t “connect” with them. However, it was nice to speak to the adoptive pet parents. All in all, a mildly positive experience.
My new loneliness “scale”
Just back from the park, and–as I was out–I was thinking about what I might call my new loneliness “scale.” It involves dogs. Bear with me here — it’s not as nutty as it sounds.
I notice that my loneliness is “correlated” with my longing for a canine companion. When my social needs are being met, I can pat a dog and move on. But when I’m feeling alone, and see a dog, I have to have it. This feeling has caused problems. I’ve had two foster dogs through the house, and neither has worked out. How could they? I have four cats–the oldest one being especially intolerant of anything that barks.
But my loneliness was crying out for a dog. (And don’t worry, both of those foster dogs ended up with good adoptive homes.) I think my new loneliness scale would go something like this.
Imagine you see a dog in the park. You: A) say hello to the owner and pass by, B) ignore the owner and begin to pat the dog, or C) wait til owner isn’t looking and snatch the dog away forever!
If your answer is “C”, that probably indicates high loneliness. I mean, I think it indicates it reliably. We intuitively recognize that animals can be real companions, and loneliness will invariably (if we’re “pet people”) heighten our need for animal companionship.
What I find most interesting in all of this was that, when I was at the park, I wasn’t interested in the owners. I had no desire to strike up conversations. My attention was focused on the dogs. That’s a little peculiar, no? I mean, I should be trying to spark up conversations with people. But all I wanted was to grab a huge Lab and run!
Loneliness and animal assisted therapy
The many people online offering “cures” or “spells” to counter loneliness tend to overlook one obvious and happy remedy: pets. Research consistently shows that “animal assisted therapy” (ie., interacting with a cat or dog for about an hour) consistently lowers loneliness rates. In one study, a visit from a cat or dog lowered UCLA Loneliness Scale scores by about 10 points—that is, the visit left the person with an average, rather than a high, loneliness score.
Almost everyone in the loneliness research community agrees that animal assisted therapy lowers loneliness scores. The dispute tends to centre around why the scores drop. Some people say that it has nothing to do with the animals (and that lonely people are really responding to visits from the animals’ handlers). Others say that the animals are lowering loneliness rates through a process known as anthropomorphism, in which the lonely individual attributes human-like qualities to the pet, and so mentally tricks themselves into thinking they’re interacting with another person.
I fall into a third camp. I think animals lower loneliness scores because they’re animals. Not because of a handler, not because of some weird tendency towards anthropomorphism. Animals leave us feeling less lonely because (if you’re good to them!) they offer a source of connection and companionship in themselves.
The importance of animals when dealing with loneliness
It’s easy to dismiss the sense of comfort and companionship that animals offer, and say, ‘Well, you might feel briefly less lonely, but it’s just a cat. You’re not interacting with another person, the way a normal person should.’
This misses the point (and the therapeutic effect) completely. Loneliness cues a sense of distrust. Lonely people tend to test as more “distrustful” than the nonlonely. Anything that promotes trust can ultimately help offset loneliness. Being with a pet can help you overcome feelings of distrust (and build feelings of trust) in an enormously non-threatening, safe way. This isn’t to say it’s not going to be hard, when chronically lonely, to interact with others: it will be. But you’re going to be better off—in your interactions with humans—if you can draw on those feelings of trust a golden retriever or siamese cat tends to cue.
If animals can give us a break from feelings of threat, distrust, insecurity, and lack of connection, they represent a critical first step in dealing with loneliness—and we should value them as such.
How can I get animal assisted therapy for my loneliness?
Well, unless you’re living in an assisted care facility, or staying in a hospital, you basically can’t. But that doesn’t mean you can’t avail yourself of animal assisted therapy.
Animal assisted therapy programs are usually an hour or so long, and they involve little more than interaction between a (safe) dog or cat, and an individual. A great way of getting an hour’s worth of interaction with a pet is to sign up to walk dogs or pat cats at the local pound. Don’t groan! It’s not cheesy!
I constructed my own animal assisted therapy program for loneliness by going to the local pound and walking a dog for an hour about once or twice a week. I monitored my loneliness levels before and after each walk, and I always felt less lonely at the end of our walks. I loved looking at the dogs, and patting them, and visiting with them in their cages.
It’s easier to get involved with pounds in small cities or towns. When I was in Toronto, the city pound had a huge waiting list for dog-walkers, and you had to take special training before you could begin walking dogs. The small town where I live now has a pretty open-door policy. I can go grab a dog whenever I wish (and I do!).
How can I get animal assisted therapy for my loneliness if I can’t walk dogs?
If you live in a big city, and there’s a waiting list for dog-walking, or some similarly difficult hurdle to jump through, you can always foster. Fostering involves taking in sick or injured animals, or very young animals, and nursing and housing them until they are ready to be adopted.
Fostering is a good way of “test-driving” a specific animal. I mean, are you really prepared for an Irish Setter? Fostering is a way to find out.
Two things to note: First, fostering is not the Hallmark card it’s often portrayed as. The last time I fostered kittens, they were just tiny things, and I wound up with a fair bit of kitten poo all over my diaries. Second, you want to make sure you’re with a reputable animal agency that you can turn to for advice, support, and which—if necessary—will rehouse the animals. Ask the agency what its policies are on providing food and medical care to fostered animals, and ask what will happen if—no matter how hard you try—the foster situation just isn’t working.
Should I get a dog or cat if I’m feeling lonely?
NO! Let me say it again: NO!! Do not respond to your loneliness by just getting a dog or cat. You might not have time for a pet; you might not have the money for 15 years of food and vet bills; you might not feel like attending a puppy class every week. The list goes on!
The last thing I want people to take from this blog is the idea that just “getting” an animal will fix their loneliness. You have to think of the animal first. Are you really ready for a 15-20 year commitment? Do you have an animal-friendly home? Is anyone in your family allergic?
You can see I’m getting sort of high-strung here, but I routinely spend time at an animal shelter, and I see all the animals who are handed over because they’re no longer “right” for the owner, or because the owner can “no longer” care for them. I’ve met animals who’ve been dumped on the side of the highway, or left in the woods—just because they no longer suited the owner’s lifestyle.
Think long and hard before getting a pet. Foster first. Walk dogs until you find one you just can’t live without. Ask yourself if it’s the right time. And be honest with your answers!
Why do fostering and dog walking help with loneliness?
Interacting with animals through a fostering or dog walking program is great because it lets you draw companionship from animals. But it does something else as well. As I’ve noted before, loneliness tends to promote feelings of distrust and threat. And the nice thing about animal shelters, or rescue organizations, is that you’re dealing with other people at their best. You’re seeing other people—at the pound, or with the rescue group—being caring, and open, and kind.
And this can help (even if just briefly) shift your feelings of threat and distrust. It’s hard to see a shelter worker get down on his hands and knees to hug an old dog and not feel warm-hearted and safe around that worker. This feeling of safety is a break from the feelings of threat chronic loneliness can cue, and a positive way of responding to and thawing out your loneliness.
You say you have four cats. Where did you get them?
I can’t resist adding a plug for shelters here. It’s sort of peripheral to loneliness (though maybe not), but I have to add that, if you do decide to get a pet, you should go through an animal rescue group or shelter.
All four of my cats are rescues. One was abandoned as a kitten when it’s owner went to prison (I’m not making this up). One was left at the humane society. One was rescued from a cat colony where the cats were sick and running wild. And the youngest one was literally scooped up off the side of the road (by me!). He was starving, covered in lice, and too weak to move. I had to take him.
Why is getting a cat or dog from a shelter/rescue group related to loneliness? Because that animal will be eternally grateful and will love you forever! Because you’ll get a boost in self-esteem for saving it. Because you’ll think back to the moment of rescue and think, ‘Darn it, I did something good that day.’ And all of these positive thoughts and feelings are a powerful response to the poor self-image loneliness can cue.