Farm Animal-Assisted Intervention For People With Clinical Depression
While we don’t often think of farm animals when we think of service animals, new research finds that interacting with farm animals can promote positive change in people with clinical depression. This study tests whether interaction with cows on a farm improves symptoms of clinical depression in people. One group of people spent two days on a farm for a 12 week period while another did not.
For the people on the farm, they worked with the animals twice a week for twelve weeks, for about 2-3 hours at a time.
The study found significant and positive changes for those in the farm group. Looking at anxiety, levels of depression, and sense of self, the study found that people’s mindset moved in a positive direction after twelve weeks. In the control group, no significant changes were found, meaning that the farm animals were likely a large contributor to the changes. The research indicates that exposure and interaction with farm animals can be a beneficial treatment for individuals with depression.
The author even notes that the positive results remained in those surveyed six months after their time on the farm. This means that interaction with animals could act as a long term treatment option.
The abstract to this article can be found here.