A political question:
Our recently elected minister for finance just did something unexpected. She basically went:
“Last autumn during the election campaign, I said we should do X. After four months of looking at the actual numbers, it turns out that X is a terribad idea, so we are going to do NOT X”
(She used more obfuscating terms, she’s a politician after all.)
The evidence points to her actually changing her mind rather than lying during the election.
The question:
Would you prefer a politician sane enough to change her mind when presented with convincing evidence or one that you (mostly) agree with?
Also, pets trigger oxytocin release.
A dog usually also “forces” you to exercise moderately by walking it and exercising while depressed is notoriously difficult to follow through on.
I vaguely remember reading a study that found talking to your dog gave the same result as talking to a therapist, (indicating that talking is more important than having someone listen) but I can’t find the link at the moment, maybe I misremember.
Owning a dog is not the only option either, I have fairly regularly lent out some of mine to friends and family going through a rough patch with good results.
I suspect it depends on severity and cause though. If the depression is bad enough you may need chemicals just to get you to a level where you can benefit from other treatment.