A hard lesson from my dog about anxiety

I think my dog Penny has panic attacks.

It happened last night in the middle of the storm but it’s not the first time.

The first time was about a year ago. I was in anxious way all day and that afternoon Penny started to pace around the house. I could see her getting increasingly antsy. She began to follow me from room to room until finally, her anxiety got so high that she jumped up with me on the couch and began to aggressively nuzzle my neck until I was finally able to calm her down.

My dog is a highly sensitive creature. When someone in our house is sad she picks up on it and acts accordingly. Good luck crying without her trying to get into your lap. When I get anxious, she gets anxious. She resonates with us and its fascinating to see.

The truth is though, this isn’t unique to Penny. We humans do this also.

My mental health doesn’t just impact me, it impacts the people around me whether I want it to or not. It is the background song playing in our life story and whether we like it or not, it gets into the heads of the people around us just like someone walking by whistling Baby Shark. Anxiety and depression are contagious.

As someone with an anxiety disorder sometimes it’s a hard truth to face that my unchecked anxiety spills out onto the people around me. The good news is so does the positive investments I make to improve it.

The meditation practice I started after beginning therapy years ago is now something Nick and I often do together. The ways I’ve learned to talk about my anxiety is now a shame-free conversation we are able to have when either one of us is feeling anxious. The slow runs I take to help get me out of my head when I get worrying are something Penny and I now do together. (cause it helps her anxiety also!)

It’s not selfish to do the things that help you to be more mentally healthy. I’ve learned do these things because I realize that If I want to be the best son, husband, brother, counselor, friend I can be, I can’t neglect my mental health. If I do, all these roles suffer and I start making a mess of my life.

If you’ve been neglecting your mental health, now is a great time to give it some attention. If you aren’t quite sure where to start, you are welcome to reach out to me and we can talk about what might be the right place for you .

You deserve to be mentally healthy and so do the people in your life. If you can’t start that process for yourself, do it for the ones you love. When we invest in our mental health everyone benefits, even our dogs.