• PLEASE NOTE - the TEAS facebook page has been hacked, take extreme care when visiting the page, for further information visit here

views on pets for people with mental health issues

Status
Not open for further replies.
Victoria

Victoria

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jun 2, 2012
Messages
100
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Sunderland, England
Hi, i know this can be quite a difficult or argumentitive subject (wel in my experience) But i was just wondering what peoples views are on people with mental illnesses owning pets. Personally i have borderline personality disorder (along with a few other things) which sometimes makes it very hard for me to look after my self let alone a pet (or my children lol) after talking with a few others in my situation who have been, well shouted at and belittled by friends and family having said that we are getting a pet, by saying we cant look after our selves, we cant look after a pet, its unfar on the animal, and we are going to cause undue hurt and stress on the animal without even giving us a chance to prove that we can. ( sorry if this is turning into a rant lol)

but i love the feeling on a night when the kids are in bed and i have polly and anna and now the babies on the floor in their runs, or cuddled on my knee for a brush and treats, it seems to soothe the days stresses away and is very calming. I will admit sometimes i dont poop pick every day if its a bad day (but they are thoroughly cleaned every sunday) or they might not get in the run every night but on the majority of days they or in the run/floor time and with the weather being nice have been in the garden every other day the past 2 weeks.

i would just like other peoples opinions as this has really gotten me down lately as having made a joke to a family member that i wanted to keep all the babies (knowing full well i couldnt) she just jumped down my throat saying i was unfit to look after pets and my children.

(P.S having a very loving partner and structured support system around for help with the kids incase i worried anyone lol)
 
Wow I have b.p.d too! I so rarely meet others with it. In my opinion if you love and care for your animals then why should you not have them? My animals are my whole life and a reason to live. It is not very supportive for people to say you should not have animals if you are caring for them. If you are unable to poop pick but your partner Can then that is fine. My partner feeds my lot in the morning as my medication means I cannot get up early enough. If you have the space,money and feel you can cope then by all means keep the babies.
 
Thanks Piggyfan, its nice to no another person with b.p.d who has piggies. most of my family dont understand the problems i have, most of them still say (after 3 nd half yrs) its just the baby blues get over it lol. having only been corectly diagnosed when my son was 6 mnths. i struggle getting up to but my partner gives me a swift kick to wake me up lol, he has to get up for woke and i need lots of coffee so i can sort kids for nursery lol x My friend was especially upset as she wanted a puppy and her family were less suportive than mine! but as she said, it gives you a routine, daily walks (or poop picks) feeding times etc.
 
It is sad when family do not understand your condition and make no allowances for it. Your partner supports you and that is the main thing. Your doing so well to cope with children. I never could.
 
I don't think there is a black and white answer to this. Depends on the actual disorder and how well the individual copes. I know of some people with different mental health problems who are loving, caring pet owners. In turn, looking after their pets is actually good for their mental health. My friend's autistic 6 year old grandson blossoms when he can interact with her kitty. On the other hand, I would certainly worry about a pet owned by a psychopath.

In your particular case it sounds like you are good for your piggies and your piggies are good for you. As for the poop pickups, hey, I occasionally let a day go by because I'm just too plain tired or sore (I have some permanent physical injuries after a car accident.)
 
I currently have 4 guinea pigs, 5 gerbils, 1 hamster, 1 degu and 2 cats. I can't really go in to detail but I have ongoing MH issues myself. All I can say is my animals are my life and are one of the things that keeps me going.

I have a supportive husband but very few friends. People who I consider as friends live far away as do my family :(

I must admit that on occasion my parents have stepped in and taken my piggies when I have been unable to care for them but I see no reason why people with MH issues can not have pets unless there is a danger the pets may get harmed.
 
I'm bipolar and when low the pigs are my reason to get up in the morning cos although my daughter will do the basics they only get full care from me. I think every situation is different and if they help you the that is all that matters x
 
I also agree that people with mental health issues are people first and the labels (which are very unhelpful) in my opinion as they ostracize people more can bring a great comfort and structure to people who have too sadly live with these horrible feelings for most of their life. I think as long as you can recognize when your feeling you are not able to take care of them if you start to feel unable too they as long as you have people in place to help out then that's all you need. And as for poo picking I don't do it everyday either! Lol
 
As someone else mentioned it's not a clear cut thing in fact I'd say it's entirely individual. Regardless of mental health issues (or any other issues) anyone who wants pets and can commit to the level of care they need ( and can have care provided should they not be able to) should be allowed to keep them. There are plenty of 'normal' people out there who don't provide anywhere near adequate care for their pets and plenty of people with mental health issues who provide above and beyond adequate care. I know of someone with bipolar disorder who is severely depressed much of the time and even if they don't manage to take care of themselves they take care of their pets incredibly well and they have about 10 bunnies from tiny to giant, two cats, two guinea pigs and several tanks of tropical fish (including breeding Siamese fighting fish).

For me my pets are my life, I would become mentally ill if someone took them all away and said I couldn't have any ever again because of my mental health history, I'd also be terrified they'd be rehomed to someone who didn't have a clue.
 
i have body dysmorphic disorder, depression and anxiety and because of my bdd illness i spend 99% of the time in my house as i am unable to go out very much. it's tough but having the pets makes life bearable. i love them with all my heart and without them i don't think i could carry on. they help me so much, they love me regardless of how i look or how much of a nutter i am, and i live to look after them. i think they really help people with mh issues.
 
Hey never define yourself as a nutter as many people will do that for you! Hey people with any type of emotional difficulty are amongst the nicest kindest people on this land xx
 
I think it depends on the individual and their situation. I have autism but I am perfectly capable of caring for my eight guinea pigs. Yes, I do rely on my parents (especially my Dad) to take me to the pet store and the vets etc, but I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. I love my piggies so much, and they have helped me enormously. Pets can be therapeutic and provide routine etc.
 
I think someone with a mental disability having a pet is the same as someone who’s disable having a pet. In most sittuations a pet encourages a person to keep going no matter what, or it will just give someone a way to relax. I think pets benefit everyone, no matter what they may or may not have and no one should judge them for that.
 
I think it depends on the mental disability. I have social phobia and its classed as a mental disability. The piggies are what are helping me with it. Before I wouldn't go up to tills to pay for things but now I have guinea pigs I have to go up to the till to pay for them. I used to force my mum to do it but these are my babies and I have to look after them. I can now easily go up to a checkout and pay for their stuff. I've often felt extremely lonely and the boys would come over to see whats wrong and I'd cuddle them.

Pets can be very beneficial.
 
My Mum has bi polar and can be an absolute nightmare at times. I know its not her fault though, so am more sympathetic to people with mental health problems as I understand what they're going through. Its a horrible thing to have to watch someone struggle with these issues :(

We've always had pets and I do think they help, to give you something to look after and focus on. Rather than feeling 'worthless'
 
My partner has severe depression and even though i do most of the care, eg cleaning. He helps with other things and he is very good and caring with our animals, but he has always had animals so he is good pet owner despite his condition.

I have anxiety and My animals are what keeps me going, and functioning normally. They are like a therapy and help control it. I was not allowed animals for a while due to last flat and my anxiety actually got worse with not having them around.

I dont think having a mental health condition should stop anyone from having a pet, I believe a lot that they can be a therapy and is often what keeps most people going
 
hey. i work in a mental health medium secure unit and my service users are those with MH issues, BPD, depression, etc. we have animals of all sorts come in to work for the guys and girls to stroke them and interact with them. we also go to farms and other places with animals so they can have that therapeutic relationship with animals. we also have a 'garden' out the front with chickens and rabbits for the service users to look after if deemed appropriate. i think that animals of all sorts have a big role in the recovery of people with MH issues and that relationship can help with their treatment. it has been seen that the more contact they have with the animals, the more consideration they then build for people and the levels fo aggression go down significantly.
i suffer with depression myself and have found on a bad day that they get me through it all. i love my piggies so much and they are such an important part of my family.
to think that people are still this narrow minded in this day and age where it is more acceptable to talk about our MH issues more openly and it is more accepted by most, especially in the workplace is very sad and i am glad that this is an exception now rather than the rule. dont listen to them, you know better than them and know that their narrow minded view is in the minority now. you take good care of your piggies and thats the most important thing. like somebody said, there are those that have no issues in MH that are unable to look after their pets, how many pictures and nasty stories end up on the news and on facebook of people mistreating their animals? its crazy that people still think that mental health affects the love you give to them when so much goes on in the 'normal' minds of people.
 
Thank you everyone for your replies, i am glad i am not alone in this as sometimes i feel like i let the piggies down, and my 2 kids, my 4 year old still doesnt behave very well for me as he is so used to me not doing anything and his dad doing it all, as his dad had to leave work for almost 2 yrs as i was told i was not allowed to be alone with him, thankfully now things ar looking good, enjoying my piggies and got lots of structured support going on. Thank you all and hopefully if any of us are having a bad day we could use this thread to try lift each others spirits sort of speak x
 
I am amazed to discover just how many of us on this forum have mental health issues. I suffer from depression and my life would be much worse if I didn't have my pets. I think that as long as a person can adequately care for an animal and know when it needs a vet etc, then why not? It's clear to me that we all love and care for our babies very much indeed and it's great to have this forum for support.

There ARE people out there who should not have pets, but they're not necessarily people with mental health problems. :)
 
Plenty of understanding on this forum. I have depression and was in a particularly bad bout when I got my first two piggies. For me they were a god send and although I didn't want to get out of bed I knew I had to in order to feed them etc. Basically they kept me going during my darkest time but I was also safe in the knkwledge that I had people around to help me if I couldn't cope. I have had some real low moments but it seems a cuddle and kisses from my piggies help to put things into perspective
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top