Therapy dogs can also impact people with mental health disorders. (4,5,6) One way they can do this is by helping people with depression. (4,5) It is believed that when someone pets an animal, “feel good neurotransmitters” called endorphins are released which can be extremely helpful and beneficial for those going through depression. (5) Another way that depression can be improved by therapy dogs is that patients often forget about their own problems when in the presence of a dog because their attention is drawn to it and its needs. (5) Hormones such as serotonin, prolactin, and oxytocin is also released by interacting with an animal which can play a major part in elevating moods.
Stress and Physical Health Stress can be easily considered the most spread issue of modern people. Most people today suffer from the stress of different levels of severity and its diverse effects on health and social behavior. Our academic group decided to research the effects of stress on students, their academic performance, health (both mental and physical), and social behavior. The reason for choosing this very target population is due to high risks of stress and a lot of stressful situations among students, especially during examination weeks. In these periods, students experience extreme overloads that inevitably lead to many health and mental issues.
Various studies across the globe have emphasised that students undertaking professional courses, are subjected to higher stress. Excessive stress could lead to psychological problems like depression and anxiety. Stress arises when the combination of internal and external pressures exceeds the individual’s resources to cope with their situation. For many young adults, college is the best time of life. These critical years can also be undermined by depression, anxiety and stress.
Effects of Stress on Psychological Adjustment of Students The importance of feelings and emotions and their impact on people 's lives is a new trend that has recently been in the forefront of people 's lives as they try to deal with their environments (Salovey, 2001). Difficulties in handling or dealing with the environmental stressors/challenges associated with the transition that may lead to decreased academic performance, psychological adjustment and increased psychological distress (Friedlander et al., 2007) Stress has great impacts on human life, it not only affects individual’s physical and psychological conditions but also effect each and every aspect of his life. In the other words, “Stress has been reported to affect psychological and physical health of students” (Dwyer & Cummings, 2001). Stress also has a great impact on psychological adjustment of students. Researches have shown that there is a significant negative relationship between stress and psychological adjustment of students.
Stress is a person’s reaction and response to stressors, while stressors are events that cause stress for individuals. It is something that humans, in general, experience everyday in either their professional, social, or personal lives. Stress has a big impact on the human’s well-being, way of behaving, mood, and their psychological health as a whole. Those stressful events impact both children and adults. Young and healthy people‘s response to stressful life events can be adaptive which basically doesn’t affect their health and welfare, while old and unhealthy people’s responses to the same stress may have a huge influence upon their health.
However, it is important to note that most positive outcomes of highly stressful situations are in fact influenced by the individual’s personality, skills, characteristics and coping strategies (Schiffrin & Nelson, 2010, Zu et al., 2017). Ideally, dependent on the individual some perceive stress as motivation to better improve themselves (Schiffrin & Nelson, 2010). Therefore, by solving my problem (adapting my environment) I in fact improved myself as an individual. Furthermore, by doing so I have unintentionally prepared myself to approach the next stressful situation with more ease (Schiffrin & Nelson, 2010, Zu et al., 2017). Another significant positive outcome could be improved mental and physical health.
The sample that these researchers used to gather data, consisted of 50 pet owners and 50 non-pet-owners, who took a survey called the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The researchers were then able to conclude that pet owners had a lower level of stress and a higher level of life satisfaction than those of non-pet-owners. This study was also supported by a study conducted by McConnell, Brown, Shoda, Stayton, and Martin (2011); where the research produced by the researchers aimed to know whether pets can serve as a medium for substitute in the fulfillment of social needs that is generally provided by humans towards each other. The researchers were able to conclude that the study that has been conducted has presented evidences that support the thesis statement: pet-owners gain both psychological benefits from the ownership of pets (McConnell, Brown, Shoda, Stayton, & Martin, 2011). In order to accurately conclude the research statement, the researchers have decided to produce three sub-studies.
Stress can be characterized as a trial to homoeostasis which is the body’s sense or state of equilibrium (Waghachavare, Dhumale, Gore 2013). Stress is a mental or physical wonder shaped through one’s intellectual evaluation of the incitement and is a consequence of one’s connection with nature (Lazarus & Folkman1984). This study obligates to know the stressors that can be a factor in contributing to the stress among college students. Undergraduates particularly first year recruits are a group exposed to stress because of the different nature of college life (Towbes & Cohen 1996). According to the researcher’s FGD’s or focus group discussions, most Filipino college students are stressed because of academic difficulties, peer pressure and parental
The Causes of Stress for College Students Stress is basically defined as an applied force or system of forces that tends to strain or deform a body. It is usually caused by something that is out of the ordinary from everyday life, things like tests, family problems and loss of job. Today students have a lot of stress because of a lot of different reasons. There are many things that cause stress for college students; school-related issues, relationships, and peer pressure. One of the main causes of stress is adapting to the new life which we have suddenly landed in.
People that have pets were less obese and become more active because they will spent time by walking and playing with their dogs or cats. This will help raises heartbeat rate to maintain healthy hearts. The cat’s purrs can improve bone density and speed up the healing of bones and muscles. Study shows that pet ownership can help the women to overcome the pain and fear of breast cancer and some doctors believe that owning a pet can protect children against asthma. Pets also serve as important sources of social and emotional support for everyday people.