Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Pets for Bipolar Disorder

A great non-medicine treatment for bipolar disorder PETS! I have to admit to being a cat lady. I have 4 cats and 1 iguana. My cats make a huge difference in my life. When I'm depressed one of my cats will snuggle up with me and it does make me feel better.

There was a great video on WebMD's Bipolar TV about Pets for Bipolar Disorder. What I learned was there are Therapy Dogs for Bipolar disorder. Dogs trained to help you remember to take your medicine at the right time. Dogs that have been trained to recognize signs of an impediing panic attack. And therapy dogs are typically covered by insurance.

Watch the video here

Here's an article on the DBSA website about therapy dogs.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good to have you back!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info

Unknown said...

this is so true! i got a dog after going through a really bad depression, and he helped so much. i don't even know why, but knowing that my dog would always be there for me was really comforting.

Anonymous said...

I have two beautiful cats that seem to sense when I need comfort the most. One day when I was in the lowest of low places bipolar can dump you, he jumped up on my lap and watched me for a while with the most concerned face. He very softly started to pat at my eyes as if to say, why are they leaking? I hugged him and just laughed for a minute or two. Such a sweet animal. I got a quick lick on the nose before he scampered off again. Totally lifted my spirits and distracted me from my self-centered whirlpool.

Anonymous said...

I have a cute, fluffy Poochon. My favorite thing to do is hug hm when I'm sad.