Cats Are The Unsung Heroes Of Mental Health
By Renee Fabian
On a typical night, my brain races with anxiety, worried about everything from getting fired to being kicked out of therapy to whether or not my air conditioner will fall out of my window. For hours, I lie awake — until I feel two small, warm bodies cozy up next to me. My cats. As a sexual abuse survivor with PTSD, more often than not my mental health is somewhere between jumping out of my skin or unable to get off the couch. In these moments, it’s the comforting presence of my cats that helps anchor me to reality.
Mine is hardly a unique experience. Many cat owners who deal with mental illness have found cats to be of enormous help as well — and a surprising amount of empirical research backs up the particular role cats can play in providing mental-health therapy.
This is, of course, in part because animals in general are often of therapeutic use. “Cats, like any other animal, can help people from experiencing isolation or loneliness,” says Charlotte, North Carolina-based psychologist Lisa Long. “Animals can serve as a buffer to being alone. Animals boost serotonin and can significantly improve mood.”
