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Cats have a positive effect on people, relieving stress and even helping in some way with physical ailments.
But recent research shows that cat owners themselves are not such perfect people in terms of mental health.
Australian scientists conducted research and came to the conclusion that cat lovers are more likely to experience anxiety, are more likely to be lonely and are more prone to neuroses.
Moreover, this applies equally to both men and women.
Of course, the mental health indicators of cat owners were compared with similar indicators of dog owners.
The findings were drawn from a survey of more than 320 adult dog and cat owners and people who do not have pets at all.
The researchers focused on such indicators as openness, cheerfulness, a tendency to various mental disorders and other personality traits.
Dog owners turned out to be more cheerful, while cat owners turned out to be more prone to neuroses.
Of these, women are the most susceptible to neuroticism, which confirms the existence of the “crazy cat lady” phenomenon.
But scientists have not yet been able to establish what causes neuroticism. Whether the appearance of a cat is the cause of the deviation, or the disease manifests itself after the appearance of a pet.
It is possible that withdrawn and neurotic people are naturally inclined to have a cat, while cheerful people are inclined to have a dog.
Or they become neurotic because, unlike dog owners, they are less likely to be outside.