2023-07-17 14:41:00
Baby Alicia gently holds a “Waffle” in her hands, a hamster at her disposal as part of the nine-year-old’s program for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a Mexico City hospital.
“It helps me forget anxiety, control my emotions, relax and focus more,” says the little girl at the end of a therapy session attended by two psychotherapists.
Eight Australian dogs and two parrots complete the team of animals trained under the program launched by the National Center for Mental Health of the Institute for Safety and Social Services for State Employees (ISSSTE).
The star of this group is Harley, also known as “The One-eyed,” a five-year-old pug who lost his right eye while playing with the door.
Harley became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated and spread mental health issues around the world.
“The dog recovered quickly and we set an example of resilience in the face of adversity,” said Lucia Ledesma, national director of the ISSSTE Mental Health Service.
Harley’s “human mother”, a neuropsychologist, is one of the first to lead an initiative launched in 2016 to help children with cancer at first.
Animal therapy has begun in other countries since the 1970s. “Contact with animals generates radical neuropsychological changes, reduces stress and anxiety, and encourages other cognitive processes,” Ledesma explains.
During the pandemic, Harley has been going to hospitals’ COVID units to cheer up medical staff separated from their families and exhausted by long days at work.
“It was the only place in the world where animals entered the Covid units,” says Ledesma, and “we got international recognition.”
Nurse Silvia Hernandez met Harley during the pandemic. “He came straight to me, as if he knew me, as if we were great friends,” she says touched, “and he let us feed him.”
“We might see the feelings of the colleagues… how his presence allowed them to de-stress. Some cried because of it,” the nurse recalls.
The pandemic has exacerbated mental health problems in the Americas, according to a report issued by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
This is due to the increase in risk factors, such as unemployment, economic insecurity and death of relatives.
In this context, the ISSSTE institute created the “Harley and Friends” mental health program, with the aim of preventing mental problems, diagnosing complications, and intervention in previously diagnosed problems, according to Ledesma.
The doctor explains that the choice of a dog in this context depends less on its breed as much as it depends on its temperament, especially in terms of its ability to interact with humans and reassure them.
The advantage of the program, she jokes, is that it doesn’t incur any Social Security-related expenses, saying that Harvey “goes on regular watch shifts”.
Thanks to the dog’s popularity, dog food and accessory brands have offered him free products and offers for contracts.
However, Harley “turned down all the offers. He missed an opportunity to get rich. He regrets it now,” Ledesma said.
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