Ball Pythons Versus Anxiety opinion?

Just a weird thought while I lay in bed waiting for my sleep medication to kick in...

So you know how there are certain pets that aid in healing for certain mental conditions?

Ball Pythons are pretty calm creatures. They have a smooth texture, and they move slow. They have designs that are beautiful and fascinating, and they move in a fluid pattern. Their overall physique and general behavior/movement patterns seem to all be quite soothing... so....

Do you think that they could end up helping people with anxiety problems?


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Oh the irony.

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I have severe anxiety but luckily I am able to control it without medication, took a while to get there but I hate to be on meds. I find that anything keeps my mind busy helps. Researching and caring for any animal could help with this in my opinion.

I have issues with anxiety as well and anything that can keep your mind off reality/make me feel comfortable really helps. I think different things help different people. So for somebody that keeps ball pythons, yes I do think they could help. If your talking about people who don't keep ball pythons I dont know. Most people tend to have an initial fear of snakes so it depends on the individual.

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Originally Posted by KingWheatley

Just a weird thought while I lay in bed waiting for my sleep medication to kick in...

So you know how there are certain pets that aid in healing for certain mental conditions?

Ball Pythons are pretty calm creatures. They have a smooth texture, and they move slow. They have designs that are beautiful and fascinating, and they move in a fluid pattern. Their overall physique and general behavior/movement patterns seem to all be quite soothing... so....

Do you think that they could end up helping people with anxiety problems?


Herp Derp

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These are the exact reasons we allowed my daughter to get a BP when she was a teenager with anxiety.

Also, being the person solely responsible for the animal helped take her mind off of herself and onto the snake.

Fortunately? , when she left home, she left the snake with me and we bonded. I question the "fortunately" because I now have 7 large constrictors and naturally want more! :D

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Elvira started it all with me

Well studies have long proven that watching fish swim is a stress reducer for many of the reasons you listed. That's why you find so many display tanks in doctor's and dentist offices. So I could see snakes doing the same for those who aren't fearful of them.

But it really really depends on what you mean by "help" people with anxiety.

Service dogs and Emotional support animals is actually an area I have a little experience in away from Internet land, having been involved in the training of many.

Any animal has the potential to be an ESA. It just depends on the individual's preferences.

However, you have to check your local laws. There are some jurisdictions that specify which species are allowed to be protected as ESAs by housing laws.

Also the animal's safety and well being should be kept in mind. Reptiles, especially snakes, should not be handled daily. Nor for long periods of time. They are shy and secretive and prefer to be left alone. If a person's anxiety relief needs must be met in tactile ways - then a snake is a really poor choice.

There is also something to be said for choosing socially intelligent animals as your ESA. An animal that bonds with you will learn your moods and can often learn to pick up when it is needed - often way before you even realize it. Dogs are especially adept at this. Sensing the changing hormone levels in your body such as adrenaline and cortisol, most likely through scent. Dog owners have known it for years but recent scientific studies have also suggested that dogs are capable of empathy. They can pick up when their owner is stressed or depressed and they actually want to do something about it.

Cats also make pretty good ESAs. Their purrs are at a frequency that has long been known to be medically therapeutic in applications every where from healing broken bones and soft tissue injuries to reducing stress and increasing heart health.

Doing things you enjoy, having a hobby such as snake keeping, watching their natural behaviors are all good stress busters. But it you have a legit medical need for an emotional support animal for severe anxiety - a snake still wouldn't be near the top of the list. I could see using in the way traditional ESAs are used to be detrimental to the snake's well being over the long term.

I have an anxiety disorder and caring for animals always has helped me, snakes especially because I need to use careful movements to help keep them calm so for me at least it helps center me a bit more.

A friend who works with mentally disabled people sent me a picture of one relaxation therapy using ball python.
Apparently they have people lay down and let the snake slither on them.

I'm another one who suffers from pretty significant anxiety, and I find my herps can help me ground and calm down because they can be so slow and methodical in their movements. Working with the animals in my collection can sometimes help me feel a lot better after a rough mental health day.

That said, my collection also adds to my mental health burden sometimes. My anxiety interacts with a fatigue condition to leave me frequently exhausted, which can make it hard to keep up with cleaning and sanitation in the herp room, which leads to my animals living in conditions that I'm personally unsatisfied with. So I either force myself to work through feeling like crap (which isn't great for me mentally) or I just beat myself up about my failure to my pets (which also isn't great for me mentally).

Of course, there's a big difference between a single reptile as an ESA and a collection of them-- and the amount of care that goes into a collection versus a single pet is one of those differences.

Overall, while I do find that my snake and geckos have a positive impact on my mental health, I'd still probably prefer or recommend a social mammal as an official ESA. I feel like the benefit in having herps would be more akin to meditation or other ritualized calming activities, as opposed to actual emotional support.

Just my two cents, though!

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Originally Posted by Aste88

A friend who works with mentally disabled people sent me a picture of one relaxation therapy using ball python.
Apparently they have people lay down and let the snake slither on them.

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This made me giggle. Sometimes I'd lay Wheatley down and he will just wiggle his way all over to find a perfect place to snuggle himself up. One day he decided my face was the perfect perch. I didn't want to bother him but he made it really hard to watch my movie...


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