In New Mexico, office workers relieve stress with kittens

New Mexico has come up with a new way to deal with stress and increase the productivity of office workers.

In one of the offices was opened cat library, created in conjunction with a shelter for homeless animals. Employees experiencing an acute need for relaxation and stress relief can take a kitten from the library directly to the office.

The authors of the project report that communicating with animals lowers the level of the stress hormone cortisol, and also favorably affects the production of the hormones of happiness, serotonin and oxytocin, which not only allows office workers to get rid of fatigue and negative emotions, but also to increase their productivity. It is noted that thanks to this service, the number of adoptions of animals from the shelter has increased. In addition, the number of donations has increased significantly.

Professor Carey Cooper of Manchester Business School confirms that kittens at work will help get rid of short-term stress.

“Hanging out with kittens does help relieve short-term stress, but it does not solve the problem of its occurrence. There is chronic stress, which will not be affected in any way by communicating with an animal, but if we are talking about an exam or a deadline, or a busy work week, then this method will really help to cope with negative emotions. Of course, walking the dog, meditating or cuddling a kitten will lift your spirits, but they won’t get rid of your underlying psycho-emotional problems,” he says.