Let me preface this post by addressing those of you who have children, love children, or at least like children, to assure you that we at Pop Art Pet have nothing against children! In fact we have done some great custom portraits of kids and have really enjoyed creating them as well as working with their parents. Just check out our proofs of Logan, or our custom Pop Portraits of Sophie and Sophia. I just happen to hear about a recent study that I found very interesting, and thought other people might as well, whether you have pets or kids or both.
There have been many studies over many years that have proven scientifically that having a pet enhances your life. Doctors and psychologist have utilized dogs and cats for their therapeutic value for years in children’s hospitals and nursing homes, and they even use horses to help rehabilitate prisoners. Just today I was in a waiting room reading (actually just skimming) a recent issue of “Health” magazine (it was either that or a “National Geographic” from May of 2003) when I saw an article in the “Feeling” section about how a pet makes you healthier & happier. And I quote, “Recent studies show that regular interaction with a pet may lessen depression and anxiety and increase your sense of well-being. Pet bonding has also been associated with lower blood pressure and helping the heart rebound after an attack.” It went on to report that results of a survey of pet owners indicated that the top benefits of having a pet are companionship, love, and affection. When I was reading this I giggled, not just because I found it blatantly obvious, but because I remembered a dinner conversation I had a week or so ago, when a friend told me about an article they read about a recent study which proved that people who have children (human children that is) are more likely to be depressed than those who don’t. I personally found it intriguing to compare these results, so I came home and looked it up. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, it only took about three minutes to find the article from the Washington Post earlier this year. It was titled “Bundles of.. Misery,” (which sounds a little harsh, but pretty amusing) and it presented the results of the study published by the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. They found that “parents, from those with young children to empty nesters, reported being more miserable than non-parents.” They determined this by analyzing data from a national survey of families and households that asked adults how many times in the past week, for example, they felt sad, or depressed, etc. The study’s author Robin Simon, an associate professor of sociology at Florida State said, “Parents don’t do as well as non-parents.” Then she went on to write that her study validates the choice not to have children because it might just be the healthiest one of all, and warns people considering having kids to be aware of what “they are getting into.”
So to summarize, the bottom line, in layman’s terms.. experts agree (and so do we), puppies and/or kitties are way better than babies!
But seriously, along with pets, we love creating custom portraits of kids of all ages (and species)! We even have a website just for our custom pop art portraits of people – check out Pop Art Go!
