Psychology and pets in families

The study of the importance of the relationship between people and animals is a growing field and has the potential to be part of the whole human-health field, the social milieu on where animals fit into society has really changed in the last 13 years. We've gone from recognizing the potential of animals being a significant positive contribution to certain populations, such as the elderly, to actual documentation. The former words are of Alan M. Beck of Purdue's School of Veterinary Medicine and Aaron H. Katcher, psychiatrist and professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania that explores the emotional and even physical benefits of having a pet and analyzes the complex relationship between people and pets as in an experiment they got that people with pets had lower blood pressure and lower blood fat levels than those without pets, even though the two groups were alike in diet and exercise. And it is really interesting that now days you can hear of “animal therapy” so that Beck in his books talks about pets as family members, pets as therapists, talking to pets, and how pets can teach us to become better companions to friends and family. But it should not be forgotten that although they have a lot of benefits, they can create problems also. As Beck and Katcher say. "There is no medicine that doesn't have some side effects”. For example more pet ownership has public-health implications such as more dog bites, and some people whose pets die grieve to the point of illness. But grief of loss of an animal is not new, Beck says, even ancient Egyptians shaved their eyebrows after their cats died, and the Roman emperor Caligula had his horse entombed.
I suggest that if you treat pets as family to read the “Between pets and people: the importance of animal companionship” book by Alan M. Beck, Aaron Honori Katcher of Purdue University Press, 1996.