Hi,

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine on the phone and he says, “I’ve got to go. I’ve
got to take my daughter out for a walk.” Believe it or not…He wasn’t talking about his real daughter…He was talking about his DOG!!! Lol

But some people do feel about their pets like they’re their children, don’t they? I’m sure you’ve seen or known people like that. Maybe even you’ve been like that when you’ve had a pet in the past.

But here’s the point: Animals can really capture our hearts, and they can be very good for us. In fact, a dog can be very good for a person with depression. Even for a person with bipolar depression.

You need to do whatever works with your loved one, and if something isn’t working with
them, you need to try something new – whatever works, that’s what you need to do, even if it may seem strange at first.

But using a dog to treat depression isn’t a new thing – They’ve been trying it for awhile, and it’s been working with success!

For one thing…You can kind of figure that just having something that offers you unconditional love and affection would be good for you emotionally, wouldn’t you? So that would be a major advantage to having a dog for your loved one’s bipolar depression.

But there are also emotional benefits to loving and giving affection to someone (something) else as well. In addition…There is the added benefit of having to take care of that dog.

It would help to take the emphasis off your loved one. They would be caring about something other than themselves and their problems for a change. They would be seeing to the needs of someone else. It would give them something to do. It would give them something to think about.
It would give them a higher activity level.

It would give them a higher purpose (or even just a purpose, if all they’ve been doing is lying in bed or on the couch). It would give them some goals. It would give them someone to interact with. It would give them something to wake up for.

It would give them some responsibility. It would help them feel better about themselves. And more. Do you see all the benefits?

Up until now, your loved one has probably only depended on you for their love and affection.
And that’s a pretty big responsibility for you to shoulder by yourself.

But a dog would give them unconditional love and affection naturally, too. And dogs are also a source of joy – They can be very entertaining. They can really make you laugh with some of their antics.

Can you imagine your loved one actually laughing again? I mean…Not just starting to come out of their depression and starting to care about something again, but actually laughing at something? Wouldn’t that be great?

Maybe this is something you could try for your loved one. It certainly has been working for other people with bipolar disorder.

Well, I have to go!

Your Friend,

Dave