Animals as therapists
Depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorder? Animals may be able to help. Although many experts say there is no scientific evidence that it works, animal-assisted therapy has become popular worldwide.
A therapist to cheer you up
Dogs can often help when a psychiatrist has failed. They can make elderly people laugh and earn their trust. Animals and their owners help with therapy in retirement homes - and elderly people enjoy it!
Pets: Good for your health
There might not be any scientific evidence to prove that animal-assisted therapy is effective in treating mental and social illnesses in the long term. But pets are generally acknowledged to be good for your health. Studies show that having a pet cat or dog helps people to handle stress. Cats and dogs are healthy companions!
Surrounded by friends
Pets don't judge our behaviour - unlike human friends, psychiatrists say. They can raise children's self-esteem and make it easier for them to express themselves. Dog-assisted therapy is often used with handicapped children, for instance in Russia.
On horseback
Riding therapy is basically just riding lessons adapted for people with special needs. The picture shows a handicapped child in India on horseback. The gentle movement is supposed to help with the therapy.
Nice and friendly
Llamas are a more exotic form of therapy. Some farms in Germany offer it, for example the Orenda Ranch in Burglauer, Bavaria. "Llamas are good campanions for anxious people. The animals sense if someone feels insecure," says Birgit Appel-Wimschneider, founder of the ranch. Llamas are said to be very curious and to approach people easily.
Why shouldn't it help?
The Rzeszow University of Information Technology in Poland even imported 38 alpacas from Chile to use them in therapy for children. You hardly need scientific evidence to know whether it works: just looking at them makes most people feel better.
Looking up
Once a month, therapists in Hanover take psychiatry patients on a trip to a local wildlife centre, the "Serengeti Park", where they can feed giraffes and other animals. Researchers at Hanover Medical School say these visits help with the patients' therapy.
Proving the theory
At "Serengeti Park", patients can also feed and pet lemurs from Madagascar. Researchers are accompanying the patients on their visits as part of a five-year study, to find out whether cute exotic animals can really help with psychiatric disorders - or if it is just a temporary effect.
Controversial
Another animal-assisted therapy often talked about is swimming with dolphins. It is popular with children, but comes in for a lot of criticism. Psychologists say it does not actually benefit the patients. Animal-rights activists warn that the dolphins are often taken from Japan, where they were captured when the dolphin's family was slaughtered. This means the animals are traumatised.
Not every animal is suitable
Swimming with beluga whales might be a very special experience for humans. But animal-rights activists say this form of therapy should be banned. They say these Arctic animals cannot stand the warm water used in therapy and die before their time.
What is easiest is sometimes best
There are dogs and cats everywhere - and most of them enjoy human companionship. So why go looking for dolphins and whales with the ideal "therapists" so close at hand?