Mental Health & Well-being in Animals
Pets - Farm Animal Livestock - Zoo Animals - Birds
Edited by Veterinarian Dr. Franklin D. McMillan - Hardback 416 pagesPublisher: Blackwell Scientific Publishing 2005
Summary
Contents
Review
Ordering details: UK & Europe
Canada
USA (all ship worldwide)
Intended Readers
Overview and Summary of this New Book
The past few decades have seen a virtual explosion of scientific research in the area of cognition, emotions, suffering, and mental states in animals. Studies in the field, laboratory, and clinical veterinary practice have amassed an overwhelming body of evidence demonstrating that mental well-being is of paramount importance in all aspects of animal care. There is no longer any reasonable doubt among research scientists that mental and emotional health is of equal importance as physical and nutritional health.
Recent research shows convincingly that an animal's physical health and immune system function are strongly influenced by its mental state. Effective animal management healthcare requires attention to the emotional well-being of animals as well as their physical. Yet, for its vast importance, mental health in veterinary medicine has to date not, until now, been structured into an organized body of knowledge. Until now, this vital information on the causes, prevention and behavioral and medication treatment of mental illness in pet, zoological, farmed and laboratory animals - critical to the formal establishment of the field of mental health and well-being in animals - has remained scattered in a wide array of scientific journals.
This new book is the first authoritative textbook bringing together up-to-date information on the variety of subjects comprising mental health and wellbeing in animals. A host of distinguished international experts - eminent in the fields of animal emotion research, animal behavior, cognitive science (the science of what an animal "knows") and neuroscience (the science of how the nervous system functions) - have contributed to this book, making it the first to draw together diverse information on the animal mind and combine it with revolutionary advances in cognitive science with the knowledge in veterinary medicine and clinical animal behavior.
This book takes a descriptive, diagnostic and prescriptive approach to mental health, mixing the scientific research with practical information with clinical applications for veterinary health professionals and enlightened animal keepers to use in practical situations. The species covered include cattle, pigs, sheep, dogs, cats, horses, chickens, rats, monkeys, poultry and many other wild, farmed and domesticated mammals. My one critical comment on the book is the very limited extent of the index, which hides the rich diversity of content.
Contents
Part 1: Foundations of Animal Mental Health & Well-being
1. On Understanding Animal Mentation- Bernard E. Rollin
2. The Question of Animal Emotions: An Ethological Perspective- Marc Bekoff
3. The Experience of Pleasure in Animals- Michel Cabanac
4. The Science of Suffering- Marian S. Dawkins
5. Affective-Social Neuroscience Approaches - Understanding Animals' Core Emotional Feelings- Dr. Panksepp
Part 2: Emotional distress, Suffering & Mental illness
6. Animal Boredom: Understanding the Tedium of Confined Lives- Francoise Wemelsfelder
7. Stress, Distress, Emotion: Distinctions & Implications for Mental Well-being- Franklin D. McMillan
8. Interrelationships Between Mental and Physical Health: The Mind-Body Connection- Michael W. Fox
9. Mental Illness in Animals - Need for Precision in Terminology & Diagnostic Criteria- Karen L. Overall
10. Treatment of Emotional Distress & Disorders - Non-pharmacology Methods- Drs. Wright, Reid, Rozier
11. Emotional Distress & Disorders Treatment - Pharmacological Methods- Amy Marder & Michelle Posage
12. Emotional Maltreatment in Animals- Franklin D. McMillan Part 3: Mental Wellness (Wellbeing)
13. The Concept of Quality of Life in Animals- Franklin D. McMillan
14. Giving Power to Animals- Hal Markowitz & Katherine Eckert
15. Psychological Well-being in Animals- Suzanne Hetts, Dan Estep, Amy R. Marder
16. Do Animals Experience True Happiness?- Franklin D. McMillan
17. Animal Happiness - A Philosophical View- Bernard E. Rollin Part 4: Specific Animal Populations
18. Mental Well-being in Farm Animals: How They Think & Feel- Temple Grandin
19. Mental Health Issues in Laboratory Animals- Andrew N. Rowan & Leslie King
20. Animal Well-Being & Research Outcomes- Hal Markowitz & Gregory B. Timmel
21. Mental Health Issues in Captive Birds- Lynne Seibert
Review of the book
Mental health care isn't just for humans anymore! "Mental Health and Well-being in Animals" is the first textbook to be written on mental health and emotional wellbeing of animals. A pet, farm animal or captive wild animal in a zoo, can have a stressful life too, and this book is about how to detect, prevent and cure mammals and birds that are stressed beyond endurance.
Recent research has now clearly shown that psychological and emotional issues that once were believed to be important only for the happiness of people are relevant to animals too.
Stress management is well-accepted as being linked to immune system function and wellness in humans, this textbook brings together the evidence that this is also true for animal immunity, health and well-being.
As with people, the holistic mind-body connection is important in animal care and management. Emotional suffering, cognitive dysfunction, mental illness, emotional abuse and mental cruelty can be experienced by animals.
International leading authorities in the fields of animal emotion research, animal behavior, cognitive science, neuroscience, and veterinary medicine have come together to create this ground-breaking textbook ushers in a new era of science and commonsense-based animal welfare. This comprehensve manual establishes mental health as a bona fide field of animal healthcare.
The editor, veterinary expert Dr. Franklin D. McMillan, D.V.M., from the faculty of the Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine, notes that "Until very recently, mental health issues in animals were important only when they caused pets to do things that their owners would disapprove of-so-called 'misbehavior' - that would then be dealt with by animal training techniques to 'correct' the behavior. Mental health concerns for farm animals, laboratory and research animals, and captive birds weren't even heard of!"
Dr. McMillan adds "We now know we can make the lives and emotional well-being of animals much better than we could in the past, and directing our efforts at what goes on in their heads is the key to maximizing their quality of life."
Throughout the history of medicine and psychology the scientific community as a whole had given no meaningful credibility to concerns about the mental health of animals, often simply dismissing it as naive anthropomorphism.
Dr. Jaak Panksepp, a neuroscientist at Bowling Green State University and the discoverer of laughter in rats, said, "The scientific evidence supporting animal emotions is now overwhelming. After all, every drug used to treat emotional and psychiatric disorders in humans was first developed and found effective in animals. This kind of research would obviously have no value if animals were incapable of experiencing these emotional states."
McMillan stresses that the establishment of a field of mental health in animals does not only mean that pet, farm and zoo animals can now receive appropriate care for emotional distress and mental illnesses, but also that "We now have the knowledge and tools to help animals enjoy lives that are fulfilled rather than just physically healthy."
About the Author:
Dr. Franklin D. McMillan is also the author of:"Unlocking the Animal Mind: How Your Pet's Feelings Hold the Key to His Health and Happiness"
Details: UK & Europe Canada USA.
A Veterinary Opinion:
Dr. Shawn Messonnier DVM, author of "The Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats" (UK & Europe Canada USA), "8 Weeks to a Healthy Dog" (UK & Europe Canada USA) and "The Allergy Solution for Dogs" (UK & Europe Canada USA) writes:This book is one of the most interesting I have read in some time. It explores all of the facets of well-being in pets, and as far as I know is the first to acknowledge and discuss mental health in animals..
Many years ago when I first learned animal behavior, we were told not to be "anthropomorphic" i.e. that animals do not have the same "feelings" as humans. Since that time, new research has shown us that animals do in fact experience in their own ways many of the emotions experienced by people. The book is divided into 21 chapters covering a wide array of topics. These include stress, boredom, pleasure, mental illness in animals and its treatment, and the mental well-being of farm animals, laboratory animals, and birds. It's an interesting topic and a book that I would highly recommend!
Dr. Messonnier has a new book coming out soon: "The Natural Vet's Guide to Cancer in Dogs" (UK & Europe USA).
Intended Readers:
Veterinarians and veterinary technicians, holistic animal healers, animal acupuncture therapists, alternative and complimentary medicine veterinary practitioners, farmers, pet owners, animal behaviorists, ethologists and pet and zoo animal trainers, veterinary students and agricultural libraries; cognitive scientists, neuroscientists, comparative psychologists and animal welfare activisits and animal rights groups..