Mental health is so important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Some people may not know that pets can help you maintain good mental health. Keeping good mental health is good for your brain, your heart, and can even relieve stress. It is good for your heart because the less stressed out you are,the less you have on your mind, which can lower the risk of having a heart attack or heart diseases. It is good for your brain because having pets makes you feel loved and not as lonely.

Having pets can be difficult at times but overall having a pet is great. Having a pet is beneficial for you because they can be used as therapy animals. Therapy animals are pets that “can help alleviate stress, anxiety, depression, and feelings of loneliness and social isolation” and that can be very beneficial for your health. Having a pet is like having a lifelong best friend, they will always be there to comfort and love you. Pets can also help you socialize, “ Rather than picking up your phone to check Twitter, you could take Fido out for a walk or to the dog park and possibly meet a neighbor or two along the way” and who wouldn’t want to make a friend or two?

Having animals is not only beneficial to you, but it’s also beneficial towards your community. When you adopt or rescue an animal, you are saving its life. Taking animals off the street is good because when animals are on the streets and homeless they could have litters resulting in more homeless animals. Homeless animals are also more susceptible to death. If you adopt or rescue a pet that won’t happen. Adopt or rescue a pet now and change its life along with yours.

Works Cited

“For Better Mental Health, Experience the Pet Effect.” Mental Health America, 18 Oct. 2017, www.mentalhealthamerica.net/blog/better-mental-health-experience-pet-effect

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that can affect the way a person thinks or behaves. Schizophrenia is not a common disorder like all the others are. The symptoms for schizophrenia can start to show up between the ages of 16 to 30. Some “positive” symptoms of schizophrenia are hallucination, delusions, and movement/thought disorders. Then some “negative” symptoms of schizophrenia are reduced feelings of everyday life and reduced speaking.

There are two risk factors that present to developing schizophrenia. The risk factors are Genes/environment, and Different brain chemistry/structure. Your genes and environment take a part in this disorder because it can either sometimes run in families or genes can cause it and someone's environment because of either exposure to viruses, or problems during birth. One's brain chemistry and its structure also play a role in this because of the “chemicals” in our brain. Although experts think problems leading to schizophrenia during the development of the brain after someone is born our brains also go through major changes through puberty.

For schizophrenia, there are three different ways of treatment. The types of treatment are Antipsychotics, Psychosocial treatment, and Coordinated specialty care (CSC). When someone gets antipsychotics they either some in pills, or liquid.Injections would be given either once or twice a month. With psychosocial treatments a person's doctor will find a medication that will work for them and start the sue of coping skills to face one's everyday struggles. Finally, with CSC (Coordinated specialty care), it uses psychosocial therapy, meds, and family involvement. CSC is used to try to take down the symptoms of schizophrenia and bettering one's life.

References:

“Schizophrenia.” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtm

PTSD, also known as post traumatic stress disorder, is a disorder that can occur to anyone if they have ever experienced a traumatic or terrifying event. Some of the symptoms may be severe anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares, and even uncontrollable thoughts about the event you have experienced. Usually if these symptoms worsen over time and interfere with the way you function - this can be a sign of PTSD. These symptoms can occur a month after the traumatic event, but it can sometimes appear years later.

According to the Mayo clinic, “PTSD symptoms are generally grouped into four types: intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, and changes in physical and emotional reactions”. These symptoms can be different for everyone. This can be a great difficulty to the person suffering this disorder because it can cause them to avoid certain places, activities, and even people that remind you of the event. This can also lead to self destructing behavior and an abundance of other behaviors and symptoms.

If people still have thoughts and feeling about the event, it is in their best interest to get treatment to prevent these symptoms from worsening. It isn’t actually known on why people may develop PTSD, but there are some known causes on why this disorder can develop. Some of these causes can be mental illnesses that may have been inherited from family, your temperament, and the severity of trauma that you may have experienced throughout your life. Having PTSD can also lead to a variety of complications. Some of these complications can be abuse of drugs, abuse of alcohol, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts or actions. Getting any type of help or support for PTSD can help prevent any further stress from the event and further development of PTSD.