DOLPHIN ASSISTED THERAPY: WELFARE OF BOTH PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION AND PARTICIPATING DOLPHINS

Authors

  • Brigita Kreiviniene Lithuanian Sea Museum Center of Dolphin Assisted Therapy and Klaipėda University (LT)
  • Laura Lupeikaitė Lithuanian Sea Museum Center of Dolphin Assisted Therapy and Klaipėda University (LT)
  • Aelita Bredelytė Lithuanian Sea Museum Center of Dolphin Assisted Therapy and Klaipėda University (LT)
  • Žilvinas Kleiva Lithuanian Sea Museum Center of Dolphin Assisted Therapy and Klaipėda University (LT)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17770/sie2024vol2.7829

Keywords:

dolphin assisted therapy, depression, welfare

Abstract

The main aim of this research was to measure the effect of dolphin assisted therapy on both patients and participating dolphins. The research measured welfare of patients with depression and situational welfare of dolphins which participated in the dolphin assisted therapy programme. Patients with organic depression took part in two-week dolphin assisted therapy sessions. When measuring situational welfare of dolphins, the study sample consisted of nine individual dolphins (Tursiops truncatus ponticus, Lat.): three males and six females ranging from five to twenty years. The main research results revealed that psychosocial characteristics of patients with organic depression disorder as well as patients’ self-evaluation changed statistically significantly, the symptoms of depression decreased. The research revealed that patients were much more physically active during the period of participation in the dolphin assisted therapy process than before. The analysis of dolphin behaviour brought to the light that most of the therapy time dolphins behaved positively. There were noticed no therapy sessions where the dolphin behaviour would be evaluated as more negative than positive or just negative.

 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2019). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed. Washington.

Antonioli, C., & Reveley, M. A. (2005). Randomised controlled trial of animal facilitated therapy with dolphins in the treatment of depression. BMJ, 331(7527), 1231. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.331.7527.1231

Bin MdYusof, M.Sh., & Kok Hwee Chia N. (2012). Dolphin encounter for special children (DESC) program: Effectiveness of dolphin-assisted therapy for children with autism. International Journal Of Special Education, 27(3), 54-67. Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1001059.pdf

Birch, S. (1998). Dolphin sonar pulse intervals and human resonance characteristics. IEEE Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Bioelectromagnetism, 1998: 141 -142.

Brakes P., & Williamson, C. (2007). Dolphin Assisted Therapy: Can You Put Your Faith in DAT? Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. Retrieved from: https://uk.whales.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2018/08/dolphin-assisted-therapy-report.pdf

Brando, S., Broom, D. M., Acasuso-Rivero, C., & Clark, F. (2018). Optimal marine mammal welfare under human care: Current efforts and future directions. Behavioural Processes, 156, 16–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2017.09.011

Breitenbach, E., Stumpf, E., Fersen, L. V., & Ebert, H. V. (2009). Dolphin-Assisted Therapy: Changes in Interaction and Communication between Children with Severe Disabilities and Their Caregivers. Anthrozoös, 22(3), 277–289. https://doi.org/10.2752/175303709x457612.

Chandler, C. K. (2012). Animal Assisted Therapy in Counseling. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203832103

Crystal, J. D. (2015). Animal models of source memory. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 105(1), 56–67. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.173

Delfour, F., Monreal-Pawlowsky, T., Vaicekauskaite, R., Pilenga, C., Garcia-Parraga, D., Rödel, H. G., García Caro, N., Perlado Campos, E., & Mercera, B. (2020). Dolphin Welfare Assessment under Professional Care: ‘Willingness to Participate’, an Indicator Significantly Associated with Six Potential ‘Alerting Factors.’ Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens, 1(1), 42–60. https://doi.org/10.3390/jzbg1010004

Delfour, F., Vaicekauskaite, R., García-Párraga, D., Pilenga, C., Serres, A., Brasseur, I., Pascaud, A., Perlado-Campos, E., Sánchez-Contreras, G. J., Baumgartner, K., & Monreal-Pawlowsky, T. (2021). Behavioural Diversity Study in Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Groups and Its Implications for Welfare Assessments. Animals, 11(6), 1715. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061715

Dietch, J. T., & Zetin, M. (1983). Diagnosis of organic depressive disorders. Psychosomatics, 24(11), 971–979. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0033-3182(83)73122-1

Grover, S., Sahoo, S., Chakrabarti, S., & Avasthi, A. (2019). Anxiety and somatic symptoms among elderly patients with depression. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 41, 66–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2018.07.009

Gygax, L. (2017). Wanting, liking and welfare: The role of affective states in proximate control of behaviour in vertebrates. Ethology, 123(10), 689–704. https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.12655

Hansen, A. H., & Kristoffersen, A. E. (2016). The use of CAM providers and psychiatric outpatient services in people with anxiety/depression: a cross-sectional survey. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-016-1446-9

Hollin, C. R. (2021). An Introduction to Human–Animal Relationships. Routledge. http://books.google.ie/books?id=hRMtEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT2&dq=978-0-367-27759-8&hl=&cd=1&source=gbs_api

Kamioka, H., Okada, S., Tsutani, K., Park, H., Okuizumi, H., Handa, S., Oshio, T., Park, S. J., Kitayuguchi, J., Abe, T., Honda, T., & Mutoh, Y. (2014). Effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 22(2), 371–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2013.12.016

Kapfhammer, H. P. (2006). Somatic symptoms in depression. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 8(2), 227–239. https://doi.org/10.31887/dcns.2006.8.2/hpkapfhammer

Kreivinienė B., Mockevičienė D., Alijošienė E. (2021) Psychosocial and Neuro-Sensory Effect of Complex Dolphin Assisted Therapy for Children with Psychiatric and Behavioral Disorders. Revista Argentina de Clínica Psicológica, 30(1),: 174-191. DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2020.2015

Lietuvos Respublikos papildomosios ir alternatyviosios sveikatos priežiūros įstatymas. 2020 m. sausio 14 d. Nr. XIII-2771, suvestinė redakcija 2023-07-01. Retrieved from: https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/3a4c78c03b6411eabd71c05e81f09716/asr

Lotan, M. (2007). Alternative Therapeutic Intervention for Individuals with Rett Syndrome. The Scientific World JOURNAL, 7, 698–714. https://doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2007.4

Marino, L., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (1998). Dolphin-Assisted Therapy: Flawed Data, Flawed Conclusions. Anthrozoös, 11(4), 194–200. https://doi.org/10.2752/089279398787000517

Marino, L., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2007). Dolphin-Assisted Therapy: More Flawed Data and More Flawed Conclusions. Anthrozoös, 20(3), 239–249. https://doi.org/10.2752/089279307x224782

Mcdonald M.E., Pace D., Blue E., & Schwartz D. (2012). Critical Issues in Causation and Treatment of Autism: Why Fads Continue to Flourish. Child & Family Behavior Therapy 34(4):290-304. DOI:10.1080/07317107.2012.732849

Mellor D. J., Hunt S., & Gusset M. (2015). Caring for Wildlife: The World Zoo and Aquarium Animal Welfare Strategy. Gland: WAZA Executive Office.

Mendl, M., & Paul, E. (2004). Consciousness, emotion and animal welfare: insights from cognitive science. Animal Welfare, 13(S1), S17–S25. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0962728600014330

Miller, L., & Campo, J. V. (2021). Depression in Adolescents. New England Journal of Medicine, 385(5), 445–449. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmra2033475

Nathanson, D. E. (1998). Long-Term Effectiveness of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy for Children with Severe Disabilities. Anthrozoös, 11(1), 22–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.1998.11425084

Nathanson, D. E., de Castro, D., Friend, H., & McMahon, M. (1997). Effectiveness of Short-Term Dolphin-Assisted Therapy for Children with Severe Disabilities. Anthrozoös, 10(2–3), 90–100. https://doi.org/10.2752/089279397787001166

Nathanson, D.E. (1989). Using Atlantic bottlenose dolphins to increase cognition of mentally retarded children. Clinical and Abnormal Psychology, 233-242, ed. P. Lovibond and P. Wilson. North Holland: Elsevier. Retrieved from: https://www.vin.com/doc/?id=3863792

Reisner, I. R., & Shofer, F. S. (2008). Effects of gender and parental status on knowledge and attitudes of dog owners regarding dog aggression toward children. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 233(9), 1412–1419. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.233.9.1412

Savičius, D. (2021). Somatinių depresijos simptomų, pasireiškiančių vyresnio amžiaus pacientams, gydymas. Health Sciences, 31(3), 188–189. https://doi.org/10.35988/sm-hs.2021.107

Trone, M., Kuczaj, S., & Solangi, M. (2005). Does participation in Dolphin–Human Interaction Programs affect bottlenose dolphin behaviour? Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 93(3–4), 363–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2005.01.003

Ware J. E., Jr (2000). SF-36 health survey update. Spine, 25(24), 3130–3139. https://doi.org/10.1097/00007632-200012150-00008

Webb, N. L., & Drummond, P. D. (2001). The Effect of Swimming with Dolphins on Human Well-Being and Anxiety. Anthrozoös, 14(2), 81–85. https://doi.org/10.2752/089279301786999526

Williamson, C. (2008). Dolphin Assisted Therapy: can swimming with dolphins be a suitable treatment? Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 50(6), 477–477. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2008.00477.x

World Health Organization. Sixty-Fifth World Health Assembly. Geneva, Switzerland. Geneva 21-26, May. Retrieved from: https://apps.who.int/gb/DGNP/pdf_files/A65_REC1-en.pdf .

Zigmond, A. S., & Snaith, R. P. (1983). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 67(6), 361–370. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1983.tb09716.x

Downloads

Published

2024-05-22

How to Cite

Kreiviniene, B., Lupeikaitė, L., Bredelytė, A., & Kleiva, Žilvinas. (2024). DOLPHIN ASSISTED THERAPY: WELFARE OF BOTH PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION AND PARTICIPATING DOLPHINS. SOCIETY. INTEGRATION. EDUCATION. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference, 2, 575-592. https://doi.org/10.17770/sie2024vol2.7829