Adopting healthy lifestyle changes is essential in alleviating symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Caring for a pet can help you make healthy lifestyle changes for the following reasons:

• It encourages regular exercise.

Taking a dog for a walk, hike, or run is a fun and rewarding way to fit healthy daily exercise into your schedule. Studies have shown that dog owners are much more likely to meet their daily exercise requirements, and exercising every day is also great for the animal.

• Provides companionship.

Companionship can help prevent illness and even add years to your life, while isolation and loneliness can trigger symptoms of depression. Caring for an animal can help you feel needed and loved and distract you from your problems, especially living alone. Most dog and cat owners talk to their pets; some even use them to solve problems. And there’s nothing better for loneliness than coming home to a purring kitten or a dog that greets you with a wagging tail.

• It helps to meet new people.

Pets can be an excellent social lubricant for their owners, helping you initiate and maintain new friendships. Dog owners often stop and talk to each other. Pet owners meet new people at pet stores, clubs, and training classes.

• Reduces anxiety.

The companionship of an animal can offer comfort, help relieve anxiety, and build self-confidence, especially in anxious people. Because pets tend to live in the moment, not worrying about what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow, they can help you be more aware and appreciate the joy of the present.

• Add structure and routine to your day.

Many pets, especially dogs, require a regular feeding and exercise schedule. A consistent routine keeps an animal balanced and calm, and it can work for you, too. Regardless of your mood (depressed, anxious, or stressed), one pitiful look from your pet, and you’ll have to get out of bed to feed, exercise, and care for them.

• Provides sensory stress relief.

Touch and movement are two healthy ways to manage stress quickly. Petting a dog, cat, or other animal can quickly lower blood pressure and help you feel calmer and less stressed.