HEALING TOUCH: Animals help us connect to the larger world

It was late autumn in the year 2001. Ishita Mukherjee, a theatre actress based in Howrah, had suffered a series of tragedies in her personal life, including a divorce and a death. The trauma, coupled with an innate aversion to the approaching cold winter months, with their shorter days and longer nights, caused her to sink into severe depression. “I wept all the time,” she recalls. “In fact, I was almost suicidal.”

And if her mental condition worried her analyst, her physician was alarmed by the physical manifestations of the depression. “During this time I completely lost my appetite,” explains Mukherjee. “I stopped eating and became so thin that my doctor thought I was verging on anorexia.” When Mukherjee failed to respond to treatment, and both her doctor and her shrink all but gave up on her, a city psychoanalyst suggested that she try out animal-assisted therapy (AAT).

Alternately called zoo therapy or pet therapy, this form of treatment advocates spending time in the company of animals as a way of fighting different types of physical as well as psychological ailments.

“Though I had never tried out this form of therapy before,” explains Sutapa Basu, the psychologist who introduced Mukherjee to AAT, “I’d read about it and knew that it was gaining popularity in the West. It was being touted as an effective means of treating the kind of loneliness-induced depression Ishita was suffering from. So I decided to give it a shot.”

Mukherjee was referred to the Deer Sanctuary Rescue Centre in Salt Lake — a shelter for injured wild animals — where, as per her doctor’s advice, she spent long periods of time. “I used to feed the animals (which included — other than deer — birds, monkeys, rabbits and snakes),” she explains. She was also allowed to pet some of the animals, like a langur, which Mukherjee grew very fond of.

She particularly remembers the time when the langur wiped away her tears. “I was standing in front of her cage, crying, as I often was at that time. Suddenly she stretched out her hand and brushed the tears from my cheek. I will never forget that moment for as long as I live,” she says.

Within six months, Mukherjee began to feel not only happier in general but also healthier. “I started feeling positive towards life and definitely more cheerful,” she says. “I also got my appetite back, and started putting on weight again.”

Her analyst too was impressed with the results. “She showed a marked improvement,” she points out proudly. “Ishita was going through a period of loss. The warmth that the animals provided was able to fill the void that she experienced. And after her success I plan to refer others to it.”

According to a new study, conducted by Saint Louis University (SLU) in the United States, which was published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, AAT has “real social benefits”.

“It’s not that the animals have magic vibes coming out of them,” explains William Banks, professor of geriatrics and physiological science at SLU, School of Medicine, who was one of the researchers, “it’s about giving people a sense of life beyond what they ordinarily experience”.

While remarking that AAT has moved “beyond anecdotal evidence into real science” he points out that it is one of the simplest forms of therapy, entailing little more than just being in close proximity with animals. As one researcher points out, “stroking a dog, watching a kitten play or observing the hypnotic explorations of fish can reduce stress and loneliness, shift our focus beyond ourselves and help us connect to the larger world”.

In fact, studies conducted in nursing homes and homes for the elderly found that visits by dogs, cats and other animals significantly reduced loneliness in the elderly. This was more so in cases of those who were either animal lovers or had owned pets.

And there are stories galore of how patients of different ailments, exposed to AAT, benefitted. In a recent article, US-based AAT therapist, Karen Peak describes how a coma patient started moving after she placed her therapy-dog, Muffin, on the patient’s bed. “His son, who was standing beside the bed said, ‘Dad is pretty much comatose and will not respond,’” Peak says, “but the old man did. His body visibly relaxed and a hand came out, fingers entwined in the deep, white ruff of the dog”.

South African AAT therapist, Hennie Swanepoel, narrates the story of how he administered elephant-assisted therapy to a 13-year-old boy with cerebral palsy so that he would overcome his fear of moving his limbs. “Elephants are gentle with their young, protective and seem to sense when they are near a child or disabled individual,” explains Swanepoel. He points out that the boy enjoyed stroking the elephant’s trunk because it was such an exciting experience for him, gradually overcoming his reluctance to move.

Though AAT is in its nascent stages in India — in Calcutta, limited to a few stray cases so far — various social work organisations along with doctors and psychologists are gradually introducing it as a way to treat different types of physical and psychological ailments. “We have been doing research on the benefits of AAT for some time now,” explains Radhika Bose, general secretary of the Animal Relief and Care Society (ARCS), which operates from Dover Road, “and we plan to start it in the city soon”.

According to Rana Ganguly of ARCS, the treatment will be offered to different clinics and hospitals as well as institutions where incidents of loneliness are very high — such as prisons and old people’s homes. ARCS also intends to provide the facilities of AAT to Metro Railways, in the hope that it will prevent suicides on the tracks.