So it is no secret that humans have a great deal of mental health issues. Did you know that your furry friends could also suffer from the same mental health issues?? Yes, it is true.
Know I was going to get into how I know my pup Kobe has various mental health issues and why I am the cause for some but I decided not to. I was Google about animals and mental health and found this article where it talks about mental health in various animals and how they deal with it.
The article and the fact this is a repost of a post I did where it got a lot of comments, made me want to talk even more about it. I think it is time we stand up for the animals who get a hard time just as much as we stand up for the people who get a hard time.
What humans get as mental health may not be in the same sense as what animals get. They are similar in many sense though.
https://unsplash.com/photos/58hz_WlnTH4
For example- our furry friends of course feel anxious and stress. Just look at a dog during a thunderstorm.
An abused animal can have depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. This is shown when going to get a pet from a shelter. Their unwillingness to come to any human thinking that all humans are evil. This due to their prior torture from their owners.
Suicide and self-harm has also been seen in our furry friends. This article tells of a dog in 1845 that had been acting odd for a few days before trying to drown himself. He kept his head under the water for so long that when found, he was dead. Heartbreaking but true. Wikipedia also suggests that not just furry friends and human but insects also commit suicide.
Birds will pluck their feathers in an attempt to self-harm. Here if you scroll down to ‘Other Animals’ you will see some examples of animal self-harm. Don’t worry, it is not graphic.
In time and with effort, these animals much like humans, can be taken care of. If you know the signs in humans then you will have an idea of what to look for in animals. When you are informed, you can help not only yourself but others around you including your furry friends.
There has been researched that plants can feel happiness and sadness when the sun goes away or is out. Not human typical depression but feelings none the less.
Did you know that when you cut grass, the smell is from the grass trying to repair itself from the injury it just got? How sad it that? Really makes you think about cutting grass again.
Not to mention plants can truly feel things about the environment. Like in the movie The Happening the trees create neurotoxins. Those neurotoxins cause humans brain to think they must make the human commit suicide.
We as humans, think that animals are just dumb, cute things. In reality they have a lot of the same emotions as us. Alot of them are even way smarter then we humans are. Alot of them going extinct would cause devastation around the Earth
Want to read more BBC Earth article
I hope you are now more informed of just how serious mental health is. How it should be talked about and how being informed is important. I do hope this post shed a little light on a topic many do not talk about. Be sure to keep a closer eye on your human and furry friends. You never know who is hurting inside.
Also make sure you take care of the Earth as you don’t want to cause the trees or plants to go all crazy on us. Thank you for reading
Pin this for later
Great post! I had a parrot who had a plucking issue and have had a dog I rescued. Both had problems, but they were dearly loved. They both lived shorter than most because of stress. I was happy to give them a good life and show them what love means. I enjoyed your post. Animals are awesome!
Oh Holly that is awful they both went early. I am sure they are happy up in Heaven, miss you and would thank you for making them feel loved.
Glad you enjoyed the post
Goodness I've always known our furry friends were good for our mental health but I'd not really thought about the mental health of animals. I guess it makes sense that things could trigger issues for them too.
Yup Coombee. All living things feel some mental health issues. Even birds worry especially about their hatchlings
this is all valid. i've had animals that were adopted from really bad situations and their anxiety is real
Yes my boy is the same way Jasmine which prompted me to write this
good that you have written something about the animals! Some times we forget that they are same like us!
It does since they are living beings just like us
It is real, Jasmine. Its so much harder to understand their situations and feelings as they can't tell us like humans can. It is very upsetting sometimes
Thank you. I do hope this post teaches people that. My hope it that it will make someone who is hurting their animal, realize that they to struggle with pain and mental issues. Even if they still love a person after
This is so true! I'm very close to my cats and can usually tell what kinds of emotions they are feeling- So many of those emotions are so human, it amazes me!
I am impressed by the information that you have on this blog. It shows how well you understand this subject. strongarticle