Symptoms Of Depression In Dogs, Using Dogs In Therapy (Questions)
Q: Anyone using therapy dogs in their clinical work? If you are, I'd
like some first hand information (e.g., how you got started, what specialized
training you and your dog went through, what type of dog(s) you work with,
any problems encountered, type of population you work with, etc.).
A:While I have not met anyone face-to-face who uses dogs in
therapy, I *have* read about different therapists, notably in hospital
situations or convalescent homes, using dogs with good effect.
Which is not surprising. One of the symptoms of depression is a
withdrawal from purpose. Caring for a living being can,
often, initiate purpose and relieve depression:)
Probably your best bet is to search the CD-ROMS of newspaper and
magazine articles within the last 5 years.
I am not asserting that biology is the "cause," and I am getting the
feeling that you are talking to an institution rather than to me. :)
I am asserting that biology is a byproduct.
If you develop tennis elbow, is friction the cause? Is your love for
tennis the cause. Is the racket or ball at fault?
You can look at any one of these and claim causation. But the problem
really stems from repetitive motion.
Taking this analogy further, is surgery always needed to treat
repetitive motion? No, sometimes it can be done with physiotherapy,
and at other times only surgery will correct it.
What is the {{{Cause}}} of depression? Well, lots of things. It can
be related to childhood experiences that become incorporated into the
person's {habit's} of reacting to events; it can be a long term
involvement to a perceived hostile environment; it can be intense,
long term grieving (such as the loss of a spouse)... The list can go
on and on.
Everything we do, everything we feel, everything we think results in a
real time cascade of neurochemicals flowing through our brains.
Carrying the messages to invoke or inhibit further processes. If we
are in love, specific chemicals and regions of the brain become
involved. Is the brain the {{{Cause}}} of love? One could see it
that way, but in reality it is obviously far more complex than that.
But, the brain does {react} to it. And that {reaction} effects what
we feel and how we perceive.
Our brains (more specifically, the way it wires it self up over time
through experience) develops habits of reaction. In humans (and
perhaps other animals