Research on the human-animal bond increasingly shows bidirectional relationships where animal welfare affects human mental health and human psychological states affect animal welfare.
Human-animal bond welfare research reveals that the relationship works in both directions - humans benefit from animals (therapeutic, companionship, mental health) and animals are affected by human emotional states (stress transmission, care quality). An owner experiencing severe depression may provide adequate food and veterinary care while being unable to provide the social interaction and enrichment that their companion animal needs. Animals in therapeutic settings experience repeated contact with distressed or difficult human clients - they need their own welfare monitoring and rest periods. Understanding this bidirectionality makes human mental health support a component of animal welfare strategy, and animal welfare a component of human mental health support.