Mental health has an acute impact on all age groups, particularly adolescents. Juggling between academics, a social life, family, and more is not an easy task. It seems to already be taking its toll on teens in our country, as the rate of suicide and suicide attempts has increased for teenagers in the past few years (Frazee & Morales, 2019).
Managing the mental health of a population may seem like a daunting task, but our local communities and governments have no choice but to seek as many solutions as possible. Depression and other disorders/illnesses among teens lead to thousands of suicides per year within the country.
In the present, one of the best tools teens have access to is counselors. A counselor plays a vital role in communicating with and monitoring a teen with mental health issues. Still, more can be done. The CDC notes that supportive systems like friends and family are influential in preventing suicide (CDC, 2021). An additional support system not listed which would benefit teens is a pet. A current study has demonstrated that psychiatric assistance dogs (PAD) completed tasks such as reducing anxiety and interrupting undesirable behavior for their owners. Surprisingly, every participant in the study had a positive opinion of the relationship with their PAD (Lloyd, 2019).
Studies such as the one described give useful insight into the effectiveness of pets in aiding mental health patients. These dogs were able to play a key role in assisting patients with their mental health challenges. For teens in particular, having PADs accessible at their school could be a very effective approach at mental health struggles within the adolescent community.
References
Frazee, G., & Morales, P. G. (2019, June 18). Suicide among teens and young adults reaches highest level since 2000. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/suicide-among-teens-and-young-adults-reaches-highest-level-since-2000.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, May 13). Risk and Protective
Factors. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/factors/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fviolenceprevention%2Fsuicide%2Friskprotectivefactors.html.
Lloyd, J., Johnston, L., & Lewis, J. (2019, May 13). Psychiatric Assistance Dog Use for People
Living With Mental Health Disorders. Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2019.00166/full#:~:text=A%20psychiatric%20assistance%20dog%20(PAD)%20is%20a%20specific%20type%20of,%2C%20anxiety%2C%20or%20bipolar%20disorder.
