Can Pets Help With Depression and Anxiety?

Pets can help many people cope with depression and anxiety, offering comfort, routine and a reason to get up in the morning, but the research is more mixed than the headlines suggest. A pet can be real support alongside treatment; it isn't a treatment in itself.

What does the research say about pets and depression?

The honest answer is that it's mixed. People often describe their pets as a lifeline, yet large studies comparing pet owners with non-owners don't find that owners are less likely to be depressed.

Two reviews show the two sides well:

• A 2025 meta-analysis pooled 21 studies with almost 160,000 participants. Overall, owning a pet was not linked to a higher or lower risk of depression. Looking at species, dog ownership showed no clear link either way, while cat ownership was tied to a slightly higher risk. The authors called the relationship "complex" and asked for more research.
• A 2018 systematic review in BMC Psychiatry looked at 17 studies of people living with diagnosed mental health conditions. The numbers were mixed, with positive, negative and neutral results. But in interviews, people described in detail how their pets helped them manage day to day, especially in times of crisis.

Why the gap? One reason is that most studies are snapshots, so they can't tell whether pets affect mood or whether people's circumstances shape who gets a pet in the first place. Someone who is struggling may also lean more heavily on an animal, which can make owners look worse off on paper even if the pet is helping.

How do pets help people who are struggling?

Mostly through small, everyday things: routine, company without judgement, and a gentle push to keep going. These are the themes that came up again and again in the 2018 review.

People in those studies described pets that:

• Give structure to the day. Feeding, walking and cleaning up create a routine, even on days when nothing else gets done. The researchers linked this to behavioural activation, an approach used in some depression therapies that focuses on doing small, meaningful activities.
• Interrupt difficult moments. A cat demanding attention or a dog nudging for a walk can break a spiral of anxious thoughts or a panic attack.
• Listen without judging. Several participants said they could talk to their pet about things they couldn't tell another person, without fear of advice or criticism.
• Give a sense of purpose. Being needed by an animal helped some people hold on to a positive sense of who they were. A few said that knowing their pet depended on them helped them through their darkest moments.

Dogs add a further benefit: they need walking. In the UK, NICE recommends group exercise as one option for less severe depression, and our article on whether dog owners really get more exercise looks at how much extra walking a dog tends to bring.

Can pets reduce anxiety and stress?

In the short term, there's good evidence that they can. Stroking an animal appears to calm the body's stress response, at least for a while.

In a randomised trial with 249 university students, those who spent 10 minutes petting cats and dogs had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol afterwards than students who only watched others with the animals, looked at photos of them, or waited. The researchers described the effect as "momentary stress relief".

Structured programmes show similar results. A 2026 meta-analysis of 35 randomised controlled trials with 2,391 adults found that animal-assisted therapy was linked to reductions in depression, anxiety and stress, though the results varied a lot between studies. These are planned sessions with trained animals and handlers, which isn't the same as owning a pet.

Did pets help during the COVID-19 lockdowns?

For many owners, it seems they did. A UK survey of 5,926 adults during the first lockdown in spring 2020 found that animal owners reported smaller declines in mental health and smaller increases in loneliness than people without animals.

Most owners said their animals were a major source of support. The same survey also found practical worries: two in three owners said they had been worried about their animals because of COVID-19, most often about restricted access to vet care or who would look after the animal if they fell ill. If loneliness is a big part of what you're dealing with, our article on whether a pet can help with loneliness goes into this in more detail.

Can a pet make things harder?

Yes, sometimes. The same research that describes pets as a lifeline also records the costs.

• Money and housing. Vet bills, food and pet-friendly housing can add pressure.
• Responsibility on bad days. An unruly or demanding animal can feel overwhelming when your energy is low, and some owners described guilt when they couldn't manage it well.
• Grief. Losing a pet can be devastating, especially for someone who relied on that animal for emotional support.

If you're thinking about getting a pet to help with your mood, it's worth being realistic about the energy, time and money involved over many years. A calmer animal, or helping with a friend's or a shelter's animals first, may be a gentler place to start.

Should a pet replace treatment for depression or anxiety?

No. Pets can be a meaningful part of support, but depression and anxiety are health conditions that often respond well to treatment, such as talking therapies or medication.

If low mood or anxiety is affecting your daily life, talk to your doctor. If you're in crisis or thinking about ending your life, please reach out now. In the US, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans are free to call on 116 123 at any time. Elsewhere, local emergency services can help.

A pet can sit beside you through all of it. For many people, that quiet company is a real help.