Nietzsche
16 Jul 2023Nietzsche
Our family, our friends, our whānaute reo Māori: extended family are part of the network of relations that ensure we have good mental health. So are our non-human companions. They accept us unconditionally! To be loved is an important part of feeling alive. There are so many ways to share life with others and loving and being loved are central to who we are.
In his influential book on group therapy, Irvin Yalom, while discussing interpersonal relations, states that the “theory of interpersonal relationships has become so much an integral part of of the fabric of psychiatric thought that it needs no further underscoring. People need people - for initial and continued survival, for socialization, for the pursuit of satisfaction. No one - not the dying, not the outcast, not the mighty - transcends the need for human contact.”1
While Yalom mentions interpersonal interaction with people, which we absolutely need (with strained or lacking interpersonal relationships one of the main reasons for therapy), we also benefit from interaction with other animals and with nature more broadly.
After much discussion, my wife and I decided to add another to our family. She had never really interacted with dogs, so she was a bit nervous. My first dog was when I was eight and was a German Shorthaired Pointer (which is what we got this time). Nietzsche joined our family in April and the house is so much more lively with his enthusiasm and desire for cuddles!
1Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). In The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (p 24). Basic Books.