Overcoming addiction and following-through with rehabilitation requires immense effort and discipline. While it’s human to seek comfort and reward, a recovering addict needs to learn to find healthy ways to live life. A therapy pet is one way for former addicts to feel good while staying on the righteous path. Here are a few reasons why furry friends double as rehabilitative helpers.

Unconditional Love

A pet provides unconditional love. Once you form that bond with your pet, no harsh words or poor choices can get in the way of it. Learning to have genuine and healthy relationships is one way to help recovering addicts live a life of normalcy. However, healthy relationships don’t have to be with people. While those recovering can feel on edge and annoyed by people, owners seldom entertain those feelings with their pets. Sure, pets can be nosy, bark, meow, and scratch, but the affection they show for owners far outweighs the negatives. In addition to providing unconditional love, most pets are very in tune with the moods of their owners and learn to ebb and flow with the attitudes of their masters.

Inspiration for Fun

Whether they are trying to poke their head under your arm or scratching at the door to go outside and play catch, pets have a way of inspiring fun and a positive atmosphere. Why is the Internet flooded with pictures of cuddly cats and videos of cute canines? It’s because people can’t help but love them and be entertained by their behaviors. Pets help remind you that there’s a lighter side to life and gloomy periods have a way of waning.

Introduction of Responsibility

Recovering addicts must learn to take responsibility for their former mistakes as well as present and future actions if their abstinence from drugs and alcohol detox is to be successfully realized. Depending on the kind of animal and particular breed, some pets can do a lot for themselves, yet they ultimately depend on their masters to feed them, give them water, take them to the vet, groom them and provide additional services. Owning a pet helps people learn how to be responsible and develop good caretaking habits.

Learned Accountability

Pets are very receptive to the moods and emotions of their owners. They can tell when you’re happy, sad, under the influence of drugs and alcohol, or thinking about engaging in bad behaviors. Pets help make you accountable for who you are, the choices you make, and the ones you consider making. Recovering from drugs and alcohol is a day-to-day effort, and dogs, cats, and other animals help ensure that you own your decisions and make you feel proud to continue to make the right ones.

Less Stress

A trove of anecdotes point to the notion that owning a pet helps lessen the stress in the life of owners. It’s a known fact that the ends that addicts seek is not the problem; all humans want to feel relaxed and seek rewards. But the way in which addicts try to attain those results leads to a lot of negatives, poor health being one of them. However, pets help lower stress, which is a benefit in itself but also lessens the likelihood that a recovering addict will choose their former methods of seeking happiness and a sense of well being.

Creates Commonalities

Recovering addicts need to learn how to develop relationships, but unlike former ties with druggie friends and dealers, the relationships must be based on something healthy. Owning a pet automatically helps one relate to other owners and pet lovers. It’s a common ground that facilitates conversations and can lead to friendships and positive relationships with others. As mentioned, the web is filled with people celebrating their love and appreciation for animals and pets. Even if they start online, a recovering addict can begin to forge relationships based on something positive and healthy.

A Lack of Loneliness

Best of all, when you own a pet, you’re never alone. Sure, it’s a different interaction than being in the presence of another human being, yet being with a pet is not like being alone. Pet owners often ‘talk’ to their pets, and while pets can’t have a language-based interaction with owners, those who have pets will tell you that forms of communication are most definitely taking place. Being alone can lead to wanting to escape or seek happiness, which for recovering addicts can lead to depression and unhealthy choices. Owning a pet means you never have to feel alone.

Lynn Hiers became a prescription drug addict after a sports injury during college. The problem only became worse when she started work after college and was confined to working at a desk for prolonged periods of time. Lynn finally sleeked help to recover from her addiction which she has been free from for over 7 years now. Her online posts are a way for her to reach out to other sufferers that may be going through dark times.