Mental Health Promotion: Animal Assisted Therapy - Term Paper Example

Animal Assisted Therapy Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Date Animal Assisted Therapy Introduction Mental health entails the embodiment of the spiritual, emotional, and the social wellbeing of an individual (Abraham et al., 2017). The high school teenagers are prone to depression especially when it comes to experiencing the first symptoms of the condition (Henry & Crowley, 2015). Following this, the Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) has proven to be helpful when it comes to assisting these teenagers in dealing with their mental health issues. This method is effective and adaptable with this group of people as it helps them to calm down and return to a sense of normalcy consequently reducing their feelings of depression (Balluerka et al., 2014). Evidence has depicted that the teenagers are at increased risks of experiencing mental disorders which means that AAT will come in handy when it comes to providing love, social support, and care to them (Balluerka et al., 2014). AAT is in line with the mental health promotion principles in various ways like being social facilitators, symbols and metaphors, de-arousal agents, among other ways. This makes the method to be relevant to the high school teenagers as they are at higher risks of experiencing various psychological disorders.. Thus, the paper will evaluate AAT as a mental health promotion method and its relevance and applicability to the high school teenagers. Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) AAT is a mental health promotion method which is delivered and/or directed by a health service professional with the specialized expertise in mental health. AAT offers various opportunities for therapeutic, recreational, educational, and motivational benefits to a person (McConnell et al., 2011). Animals have the capability of bringing comfort and joy to the individuals that they interact with. The utilization of animals for therapeutic reasons has increasingly been popular especially in the scientific community (McConnell et al., 2011). Various studies which assess the human-animal interaction entail the studies on the easily domesticated animals like fish, birds, horses, cats, and dogs (Wisdom, Saedi, & Green, 2009). Also, these studies often take place in the educational and healthcare settings because it is within these particular settings that people are probably experiencing emotional, social, and physical pressures. Research has established that AAT is very fruitful and efficient in relieving stress as well as positively impacting different other sectors in the lives of the elderly, hospitalized people, teenagers in school, and the young children (Wisdom, Saedi, & Green, 2009). Although AAT has several limitations as a mental health promotion method, the benefits associated with it outweigh these limitations. AAT and the Mental Health Promotion Principles The use of AAT as a way of mental health promotion especially with the teenagers supports various principles of mental health promotion. One of the ways is the use of the animals as effective social facilitators (Mallon, Ross, Klee & Ross, 2010). Various authors have paid attention to the ability of animals to facilitate and catalyze interaction and communication within the people who are using them. These animals do this because they are adequately similar to people in eliciting positive effects as well as pro-social behavior while reducing various instances of posing a threat to humans (Mallon, Ross, Klee & Ross, 2010). These animals may have the unique capacity which makes them efficient in mediating interactions in otherwise uncomfortable or awkward environments. The animals that are used in AAT also act as metaphors and symbols. Social anthropologists and psychoanalysts have recognized that animals have symbolic meanings (Fine, 2010). These animals are usually utilized by individuals to represent some strong feelings or emotions which are somehow difficult to articulate and are prone to repression. Following this, many therapists have encouraged the use of animals as a means of projecting people’s unconscious fears or worries as well as eliciting from them the discussion of some emotionally-charged issues and topics (Fine, 2010). These animals sufficiently fulfill these symbolic roles because of the inherently quasi-human as well as ambiguity. Fears, worries, and other types of uncertainties may lead to detrimental mental health (Fine, 2010). This means that with the animals’ assistance in expressing these uncertainties and fears, the therapy is essential in promoting the people’s positive mental health. AAT also fulfills the mental health promotion principle through being the de-arousal agents as well as their ability to focus the attention of the person using them. Human beings have an innate pre-disposition to focus their attention to or get attracted to the activities of animals (Hamama et al., 2011). This unique tendency is stronger in the youth and particularly the teenagers. This attraction is said to represent the past legacy of humans which was foraging and hunting during a time when the behavior of other different animals was central to human survival (Hamama et al., 2011). Therefore, according to studies, the people’s attention to their animals in AAT is adequate in explaining the benefits that the therapy has on the mental well-being of individuals. This is because the individuals’ attention in some non-threatening ways is widely perceived to exert a de-arousing and calming influence (Hamama et al., 2011). Additionally, the relaxed behavior of the animals is calming which creates an environment of safety is what attracts people to the animals and in turn, derives a calming effect in them which promotes their mental health (Mallon, Ross, Klee & Ross, 2010). The animals that are utilized in AAT possess the unique ability to give some unconditional and positive regard even to people who are not familiar (Trotter, 2012). In doing this, these animals offer particular social support components within the AAT context. Precisely, these animals give the emotional support to the users which are a sense of having the ability to turn to other people for comfort when feeling stressed or when in need of care by other people (Trotter, 2012). The unconditionally affectionate or ‘loving’ nature of most of the therapeutic animals, as well as their extensive utilization as being 'confidants' by teenagers and children, lends them the credence of being valued as social support providers (Trotter, 2012). Always feeling loved and cared for is an essential element of mental health promotion as it offers a solid emotional, psychological, and social support for the users. Adaptability of AAT with High School Teenagers As the National Advisory Council Workgroup on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Intervention and Development (NACWCAMID) reported, approximately one in every ten teenagers suffers from different types of mental illness (Gabriels et al., 2012). Some of these mental conditions are very severe such that it may lead to significant functional impairment. The evidence that was presented by the World Health Organization (WHO) has also projected that by 2020, the childhood and adolescent neuropsychiatric disorders will have risen by approximately more than 50% internationally (Geist, 2011). This will make it become among the five widespread morbidity, disability, and mortality causes among young children and adults (Geist, 2011). Additionally, various researchers have predicted that about 9% of the high school teenagers and approximately 5% of the pre-school going kids have been diagnosed with conditions which significantly impair various aspects of their growing life (Geist, 2011). Research has also depicted that the adolescents who have some detrimental health disorders are at increased risks of dropping out of high school, struggle with problems of substance abuse, or end up in the juvenile justice system as compared to their counterparts who do not have mental health issues (Cuijpers, 2017). Following this evidence of the risks and prevalence of mental health problems among the adolescents and teenagers, it has been established that AAT has significantly assisted adolescents and teenagers with different psychiatric diagnoses in multiple ways (Cuijpers, 2017). Therapy animals have been found to assist the withdrawn students to return to normalcy and calm down particularly after being subjected to stressful societal conditions like for example, witnessing shootings and killings (Walsh, 2009). Some of these animals have also been introduced in the classroom settings of the high school going teenagers where it has been found that the initially fearful students become trustful which creates a friendly learning environment for them (Walsh, 2009). All sorts of animals have shown to offer some levels of constantly therapeutic calming and comfort to these teenagers. With the aim of helping some of the high school students to face the fears they have when reading, therapy dogs have commonly been used (Walsh, 2009). These dogs have also proven to be significantly efficient in assisting children who have autism as well among other mental disorders (Walsh, 2009). However, dogs are not the only animals that can help high-school going teenagers in AAT. Horses are also usually utilized with this group of children and more so, those who have been diagnosed with various types of mental disorders (Gabriels et al., 2012). Different types of the therapeutic approaches which make use of horses include the therapeutic horse-back riding, the equine facilitated psychotherapy, as well as the hippotherapy (Gabriels et al., 2012). When any animal is utilized for therapy, then it has the abilities to serve as transitional attachment objects which support the mental health therapeutic goals and consequently enhances the psychosocial functioning (Gabriels et al., 2012). The other role that is related to the AAT interventions in one way or the other relates to the Weiss’s Social Provisions Theory (Geist, 2011). This theory stipulates that a person’s interactions with any type of animal have the probability of supporting their social relationships as well as their psychosocial well-being (Geist, 2011). They do this through providing them with the opportunity for nurturance, strong alliance, social integration, guidance, attachment, and the reassurance of worth. Therefore, the teenage students can also obtain some of these benefits when subjected to AAT which will enhance their mental well-being. Some of the other benefits that the teenage students may get from AAT include having the opportunities for love, acceptance, having the animals as confidants, and having them as a source of affection and companionship which are great attributes for mental health promotion (Geist, 2011). Relevance of AAT for the High School Teenagers The age period at which people are at high risk of experiencing depression is in the high school years; especially in its occurrence of the first episodes of the symptoms (O’Haire, 2013). This means that high schools have high possibilities of becoming a central setting for the treatment and the prevention of depression. Also, it is documented that the high school students often undergo various barriers when it comes to them seeking assistance for any mental health issues (O’Haire, 2013). Studies have established that individual treatment is more efficient as compared to group psychotherapy for the high school students. Depression has been identified to be a high-risk factor towards the success of high school students who are the future leaders of the society (O’Haire, 2013). Therefore, if their depression is not treated in a friendly manner, then it may affect the human capital development detrimentally. Therefore, a higher quality treatment is essential to treat this depression. It is, therefore, established that guided self-help psychotherapy is one of the primary treatments and it is effective. This may involve the student undergoing psychotherapy as well as get some assistance by service animals (Arkow, 2010). Surveys have also documented that the high school mental health patients respond better when they are subjected to the guided psychotherapy and owning a pet as a self-guided therapy as compared to the high school patients who have been subjected solely to the psychotherapy treatment (Arkow, 2010). Studies have indicated that the high school students who have interacted directly with dogs as a service animal tend to raise their positive moods. Additionally, the service animals also tend to reduce anxiety and negative feelings after this interaction over time (Black, 2012). Given that stress, anxiety, and moods have detrimental impacts on the decision-making, learning, and other cognitive processes, it is essential to ensure that they are maintained at minimum levels. Evidence depicts that keeping service animals like dogs have the ability to enhance the emotions, health, and social skills of high school students who are undergoing any form of depression (Black, 2012). Also, research has denoted that being moody or anxious may lead to the deterioration of one’s quality of life. The students that undergo psychotherapy together with the dog therapy depict a positive change in their feelings (Friesen, 2010). This includes the sense of cheerfulness, pleasantness, and high self-perceptions. Additionally, the direct interaction with the service animals depicted leads to significantly reduced levels of depression, especially when it is used as a complementary therapy treatment with other forms of psychotherapy (Friesen, 2010). Given that the high school students are continuously facing high levels of stress, there is the need for some tools that will go a long way in helping them come out of this stress which may eventually lead to depression. As the study denoted, animal-assisted interaction is an effective integrative practice which has very few side effects (Balluerka et al., 2014). High school students, especially those who are undergoing distress demonstrated a lot of enthusiasm towards the service animals and acknowledged that they are capable of assisting them substantially when they are experiencing stress (Friesen, 2010). The service animals have proven to offer a significant positive impact in the way the high school students deal with depression as they tend to alleviate loneliness and enhance their socialization. This is often through their ability always to be present, being highly responsive and given that they are highly open (Balluerka et al., 2014). Additionally, research has demonstrated that spending time with service animals reduces stress despair and anxiety (Balluerka et al., 2014). Following this, the enthusiasm with which the high school students often demonstrate when they are around the service animals has proven to mitigate some of the reasons that the students tend to express regarding the failure of engaging in the conventional mental health methods like talk therapy (Fine, 2010). Additionally, no social stigma has been associated with one spending a substantial amount of time with the service animals. Thus, since the high school students are prone to experiencing depression because of the many dynamics that they experience in school, they have often depicted a positive interest in owning these animals (Fine, 2010). Finally, aside from the therapeutic advantage of combining the animal and psychotherapy, their combination has proven to be cost-effective and associated with low risks. This then helps the high school students who are undergoing the pains related to being in that environment (Fine, 2010). Conclusion AAT is a mental health promotion method that is increasingly being used by different health professionals to improve the mental well-being of people. As the paper has documented, various domesticated animals can be used for this therapeutic process including dogs, horses, fish, birds, among other animals. The teenage high school going students are the ones that are commonly susceptible to various mental health conditions because of the high risks of being subjected to conditions that are depressing. Following this, AAT has come in handy in assisting this group of people. The therapeutic benefits of AAT include providing social support, a sense of love, acceptance, care, among others. Additionally, AAT is evidently relevant in fulfilling various mental health promotion principles as it has been discussed in the paper. The necessary evidence and the applicability of AAT as a mental health promotion method have been documented in the paper.   References Abraham, K., Nelson, C., Ganoczy, D., Zivin, K., Brandfon, S., & Walters, H. et al. (2017). Psychometric analysis of the Mental Health Recovery Measure in a sample of veterans with depression. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ser0000067 Arkow, P. (2010). Animal-assisted interventions and human education: opportunities for a more targeted focus. Handbook on animal-assisted therapy: Theoretical foundations and guidelines for practice, 3: 457-480. Balluerka, N., Muela, A., Amiano, N., & Caldentey, M. A. (2014). Influence of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) on the attachment representations of youth in residential care. Children and Youth Services Review, 42: 103-109. Black, K. (2012). The relationship between companion animals and loneliness among rural adolescents. Journal of pediatric nursing, 27(2): 103-112. Cuijpers, P. (2017). 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