I grew up with cats. As soon as I had my own apartment(I found one that let me have a pet) I got a kitten. He was by my side for almost 17 years. When I was depressed his total love just to be held comforted me. When I was anxious his purr would calm me(just time your breathing with the purr). When I was sad, he never minded being wet from my tears. I don’t know about dogs, but my cat helped me deal.

My cat has been with me for 19 years. She turned 20 recently. She has shared job transitions, death of a sibling, stage 4 cancer (of another sibling), my ordination, my spiritual growth and so much more. She is my best friend, giving unconditional love, asking nothing in return. I adore her.

Two years after my breakdown, my then 11 year old daughter began to take riding lessons. I had had a horse as a child, but was so depressed it did not occur to me to ride. I soon found that when I watched her lessons, I would enter into what I called The Horse Trance. We switched to a club that competes and I became the official main braider. I felt so good being with the horses. I read that in a study they found that depressed people get as much therapeutic benefit being with horses as they do with dolphins.

Gradually I started riding myself. And then we bought a horse! We bought a big, gorgeous stallion trained in my daughter’s discipline. He is very calm and sweet. Being with him always improves my mood, just looking at him does, and riding takes all my troubles away.

I like this question.

I have bipolar (I prefer to say I have had it, problems have been increasingly rare over the last 15 years, about the same length of time I’ve always had a German Shepherd, perhaps more than coincidence).

Having a dog did not cure the depression, but I think it helped, company, affection, exercise, responsibility (various benefits,not thinking only of myself and my problems, a feeling of responsibilty to family often put me off suicide, responsibility to a pet might do the same, but thinking processes can get pretty feeble).

Most dogs are incredably stable and consistent emotionally, unswervingly loyal and loving and reliable, this has to be a bit of a life raft in the fluctuating emotional world of bipolar, for me it is also a great antidote to the maddening lunacy a large proportion of the human population appear to be devoted to- I’m absolutley certain have a dog helps prevent me from lapsing into ilness when I am well.

Strangely my dog did not seem to think there was anything wrong with me when I was manic, appeared to love it, (a nurse thought she probably though I was a super alpha male), I took her on some pretty outlandish and lengthy adventures.

On the negative side: care of a pet might be sub-standard if a person is depressed and especially if they are manic, (it would not necessarily be unacceptable), both the unwell person and theit pet would need other humans checking on them.

I have 4 kitties… age ranging from 8 months to about 9 years.

My girls are always there for me… they don’t care if I’m higher than high or lower than low on the scale.. they still love me the same.

When I’m manic to the point that I start to wander around my apartment because I have so many ideas that by the time I go to do one I’m already moving onto the next my girls always seem to do something that makes me have to stop, breath and help them out…. like my kitten deciding she wants to climb to the top of the cabinet only to not be able to get back down…

When I’m really depressed my girls all flock to me.. they won’t leave my side.. If I don’t pet them they start to pet me… literally.. my kitten will start stroking my face with her paw!!!

They also help more than I will ever know when I get to the point that I don’t want to be around anymore…. because then I think I couldn’t do that to them.. they love me so much and I need to be there for them, I made them the promise of a forever home with me… and I WILL keep that promise to them!

The kittie I’ve had the longest.. Baby.. actually saved us from a house fire… I had started to cook something… forgot I was cooking.. and she kept coming in and out of the room I was in until I followed her to the kitchen to find that the place was filled with black smoke and the stuff in the frying pan was about to flame up any moment.. with her eyes scrunching from the smoke.. she wouldn’t leave my side until I had taken care of ever thing!!!! I love you baby! Thank you!!!

cats are wonderful. I had one for 14 years. I can’t have one now being married to a man who gets pneumonia around them. I just donate to cat shelters and visit.

I have had pets for most of my life, and when I moved out on my own as a young adult, I have had many of my own pets since then. I don’t have the same ones that I had years ago, but there have been many times when I have been in bad situations and they have been the only ones there for me. One of my very best pet friends was actually a pet rat named Socrates, who seemed very in tune with my emotional state, and would be extra cuddly when I was down.

The past year has been very rough for me as well. My boyfriend of 3 years was in the hospital and almost died. I was unemployed for over 6 months, and we were having financial difficulties and had trouble finding a place to live, and then after all of that, the relationship crumbled and we broke up after I found out he was cheating. Now I am going to be living on my own and the only companion I have is my dog, who has kept me company throughout this year without pause. I don’t think I would have made it without her.

I’ve had cats all my life. With my bipolar, my remaining cat, Kellet age 14, thinks she’s a dog, and when I’m in bed depressed, she licks my hand. There’s nothing more calming and uplifting then the sound of a cat’s purr and feeling it sleep next to you touching your body.
Lexapro, Lamictal, Wellbutrin, Geodon AND PURRS are my prescriptions. Blessings.