Students and staff at the University of New South Wales got a furry surprise on Wednesday the 8th of October for ‘Stress Less Week’. The student organisation Arc invited the Kindifarm animals to uni to give some relief to students with chaotic schedules and to help then “enjoy student life more” said Scott, a volunteer at Arc http://www.arc.unsw.edu.au/.
Students were offered the opportunity to pat and cuddle the baby chicks, ducklings, baby goat, lamb and many fluffy rabbits. It may have started off as a cold and dreary day, but soon turned into a bright and cheerful one. The animals were a great ice breaker and conversation starter. Whilst mental health, anxiety and stress are all stigmatised words, students were openly talking about their feelings around exam times, with either a bunny or a free cup of chai in their hands.
“I’ve had constant assignments these past couple of days, and this has been the most calm that I’ve been” said Ben, with a white fluffy rabbit curled up in his arms. Having the animals present encouraged student interactivity, as well as to help “alleviate all that stress and anxiety which comes with the pointy end of the semester” as stated on the Arc Facebook event page.
‘Mental Health Week’ was held from the 5th – 12th of October this year, and World Mental Health Day is marked every year on October 10th.
There is scientific research to back up the stress-relieving benefits of animals. One study conducted in 1998 by Barker and Dawson looked at this relationship, and found that the reduction in anxiety scores for patients tested was “twice as great after animal-assisted therapy”. According to Harvard University’s Health Blog, pets have demonstrated abilities to “lower blood pressure, improve recovery from heart disease, [and] also improve people’s psychological well-being and self-esteem”. Harvard University’s faith in animal assisted therapy has led to the hiring of Cooper the Shih-Tzu – a registered therapy dog that plays with students in the library.
More information on the benefits of animals to Mental Health: http://stress.about.com/od/lowstresslifestyle/a/petsandstress.htm
http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/features/health-benefits-of-pets?page=2
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9634160
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/therapy-dog-offers-stress-relief-at-work-201107223111
Whether you want to call it animal therapy or ‘rabbit-zen’ as Arc volunteer Scott had worded it, Kindifarm loves getting out into the community; spreading our furry brand of relaxation.
Thank you to Dominic Chan from Arc for the photos, and Brittney Ihrig for this story.
