Dogs N Us - We Share Everything!

Lorazepam is just one of many drugs that dogs and humans take for similar psychiatric problems. Canine compulsive behavior resembles human obsessive-compulsive disorder, for example, and impulsivity or inattention in dogs can resemble attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in us. The risk for these conditions can even be influenced by the same sets of genes. Indeed, a new study based on a survey of dog owners suggests we’re so similar to our canine companions that dogs can—and should—be used to better understand human mental health.

“Dogs are probably the closest model to humans you’re going to get,” says Karen Overall, an animal behaviorist at University of Prince Edward Island, who was not involved with the work.

Many psychologists group human personality into five “factors”: extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. These traits can be influenced by genetics and can affect a person’s mental health—especially neuroticism, or the tendency to feel negative emotions such as distress and sadness. Research has shown neurotic personalities are more vulnerable to depression or anxiety, whereas traits such as conscientiousness and agreeableness protect against these disorders.

Any dog owner will tell you that our canine pals have distinct personalities just like you and me. Some are bold and others are cautious; some are lazy and others are highly active.

Milla Salonen, a canine researcher at the University of Helsinki, and other researchers have proposed seven personality factors for grouping dogs: insecurity, energy, training focus, aggressiveness/dominance, human sociability, dog sociability, and perseverance. Some of these factors overlap with those in people, Salonen explains. Insecurity in dogs parallels neuroticism in humans, for example.

Twenty years ago, Overall and other experts began to suggest the dog be used as a model for human psychiatry. The same types of mental illness don’t occur naturally in rodents; researchers have to induce them.

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But don't be stupid to put dogs in research labs for this bullshit. Live in reality and yeah, we are all going to die. Nothing can be so real than that. So stop overblowing everything as psychiatric issues. 

Instead, share your precious life with other animals and learn from them. I am writing this from experience.