We suspected it, it’s now proven: petting a cat or a dog is an effective anti-stress technique, especially for overworked students…
At the origin of this discovery, there are researchers from Washington State University (in the United States).
These brought together 249 students who were divided into four groups: students in the first group were allowed to pet and play with cats and dogs, while students in the second group were only allowed to observe their classmates in the first group. The students of the third group were invited to look at pictures of animals. Finally, those in the fourth group weren’t doing anything special.
Anti-stress: 10 minutes with an animal is enough
Verdict? At the end of the experiment, the American researchers found that the students who had benefited from direct contact with the animals had lower levels of cortisol (the famous “stress hormone”, measured using a saliva test) than others.
“Just 10 minutes with an animal is enough to significantly lower a student’s stress level,” says Prof. Patricia Pendry, main author of this work published in the specialized journal AERA Open.
However, we know that stress (especially when it is chronic) can have an extremely significant impact on health – it would be responsible in particular for certain sleep disorders (insomnia, etc.), certain dermatological problems, certain gynecological, and could aggravate certain pathologies, such as cardiovascular diseases, hypertension or type 2 diabetes.
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