Mental illness and owning parrots

I wanted to start a new discussion today.... about mental illness (in people) and owning parrots.

The posts I have found about this topic only seem to refer to parrots being depressed, but today I wanted to ask those who suffer from mental illness -- depression, anxiety, bipolar, PTSD, other mental disorders, etc. -- how has owning a parrot affected your illness/disorder?

Let me start off by saying I know this is a delicate subject for some, and very private for others. Mental illness can be difficult for a lot of people to talk about, but it is so important because it has affected so many people. I only ask that we all remain respectful of others as they reply and this thread remain a positive place to learn of other's experiences and hopefully will help those affected learn how to cope when things seem overwhelming.

So...how has owning a parrot affected you? Has it helped you? Or hindered it sometimes? Are there any tips you can give others to make ownership easier while managing a mental illness?

I am a firm believer that animals greatly help with depression and PTSD, but would love to hear the struggles you may face every day. I'm sure there are days some feel overwhelmed and feel as though the responsibility of caring for our birds can be overwhelming. I personally do not suffer from mental illness but know many that do and own animals. So please, share your thoughts and experiences, I would love to read and learn.

I will neither confirm or deny my mental state.

All I can say is that if it hadn't been for all the wonderful animals that have shared my life so far, I would surely be a complete lunatic.

I like animals a lot more than the vast majority of people I've met or known.

I personally have found that having parrots has given me more purpose and motivation. I used to wake up dreading the day ahead, not wanting to get up. Now I have my feathered kids, I have to get up because they depend on me. I've found that I care about them more than I do myself, so having them has helped me care about myself more by proxy.

Thank you guys for the responses so far!

I will say that when I lost Peach my cockatiel recently I was left devastated. I see her absence every day and it crushes me. Not to the point of crying anymore or unable to cope but I still feel sad about Boo being alone, the house being less noisy and lively. I know time will heal that wound and I will eventually move on and have more birds, but for now I still mourn her on the inside. Others without birds or animals don't seem to understand so I don't talk about it with many people because they just see a bird. But she wasn't just a bird, she was like one of my kids. But non-bird people don't get that.

I can only imagine how much worse it would feel to lose such a loved companion and also be struggling with mental illness. To those who have suffered such a tragedy, I am truly sorry and hope you can find strength in this thread.

Worth repeating!
[ame="https://youtu.be/GRFUhYIH9W8"]Parrots and veterans heal together - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="https://youtu.be/OF2W6tSSQGI"]Parrot Sanctuary - YouTube[/ame]

I have bipolar disorder and PTSD. My birds do help my depressive episodes by not allowing me to remain hiding in bed all day. I HAVE to get up to care for them every morning. I use that as a motivator when it feels like I have nothing left to lose. When I feel like I don't have to hold on anymore, because my wife doesn't need me, and my daughter would be fine because she has my wife to care for her without me, I think about my birds. If something happened to me, they wouldn't have the care they do now.

However, there is a flip side to that. When I'm manic, they are a major source of spending. I have spent dangerously on toys, treats, other stuffs, even stuff they don't need.

The loss of all of my breeder birds and babies was a devastating blow. Had my bigger birds not survived the carbon monoxide leak, I don't know if I would have survived losing the rest.

This is a beautiful thread. Thanks to everybody for sharing.

I have suffered from depression pretty much all my life because it was genetic and then life happened and ptsd and anxiety made it worse, I've been hospitalized at a point (while I had my parrot, though thankfully I live with my family so they took good care of him) it's very difficult in pretty much every aspect of my life. It takes pretty much all the motivation to do anything out of me and I have to really push to get things done. When it comes to Lincoln sometimes I put off making him new food until the last minute (he never goes without chop, sometimes I just end up making it the day I run out if the previous batch) sometimes I let his cage get a little dirtier than it should because I lack the motivation to thoroughly clean it. I try really really hard to give him the best life that I can and sometimes i don't do the best but in the end the fact that he's a living being and needs the proper care, it motivates me to give him what he needs. I don't know if any of that makes sense xD but yeah.

Well,,, I've said to my selves numerous times in the last 2 yrs,,, you'd have to be crazy to be owned by a birds.

It kinda makes sense, birds seek out special people.

But what do we know..

I suffer from GAD, MDD, a form of OCD, and PTSD. I need my parrots, they help with pretty much all of it, but sometimes when my anxiety is really bad, the birds contribute. I get convinced my birds will be dead, that their normal sounds are cries of desperation, etc. On those days I have to get help. On days when I don’t have help I’ve had to develop strategies to make the feeding and watering happen no matter how hard it is. I couldn’t live without them.


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I have mild onset depression (in other words I get depressed sometimes but not all the time). I completely understand that feeling of not wanting to get up and face the day or feeling like you can't move, you just can't figure out what to do when you wake up and you feel like you could literally sit up in bed and stare at the bedroom wall for the rest of the day. My parrots make that impossible because I'm forced to get them up from their sleep cages and take them to potty in the sink and get food and water for them. Sometimes I think I will "just" get them set up for the day and then go back upstairs and stare at the bedroom wall and not move but after i get them set up for the day I find I don't want to go back upstairs because I want to play with them, kiss them and talk to them ect. So I'd say they help me a lot!

What an incredibly uplifting thread. Life finds a way, and for the truly enlightened it is in the form of beautiful feathered creatures!

I have every label in the book, just ask the mods who also think I'm childish. If it weren't for my bird who makes so many people happy, I doubt I would be very happy after not being able to work like I used to due to a head injury.

I have Bipolar Disorder and Panic Disorder, and my parrots have helped me so, so much.

When I was extremely depressed at the end of 2017 they literally saved my life - I knew that they relied on me, and they made me smile every day even when every thing else seemed terrible. I was suicidal, but I knew that if I carried out something like that they would lose me, the individual who is most important to them. I got up every day for them - and as a depressed person, sometimes getting out of bed is incredibly difficult. I knew that their love was unconditional, and when you believe (irrationally) that you don't deserve the love of your friends and family, that is so important. I have been hospitalised a few times before, and since I've had my birds I've been able to avoid that because I know that they NEED me. I can't let them be without me, and really when I'm in that kind of space I cannot be without them either.

In terms of my anxiety, they have a unique ability to understand when I am anxious and always try their best to help me. I've had panic attacks that are quite scary and somehow they will all come to me when they sense my anxiety brewing. All three will sit on me, preen me and be very sweet and loving, and it helps me to calm down - it sometimes even prevents my panic attacks, which is amazing to me. It fascinates me that they seem to be so in tune with my emotions.

In terms of drawbacks, sometimes I feel so paralysed that I struggle with the upkeep - cleaning etc. However, that being said, the sense of purpose that they give me often helps me to overcome this.

Anyway, I have a lot more to say, but for now I'll leave it at that!

I've only had my Nico for a week now, but the difference he's made in my everyday life is amazing.
I suffer from pretty debilitating anxiety and I also have terribly low self-esteem. As others have said, my bird helps me get up every morning because he needs me to feed him (he also wakes me up with his chirping).
I also have a bad habit of staying up too late, which often leads to dwelling on my thoughts and feeling horrible, and Nico's enforced bedtime helps me go to bed earlier.
I bring him when I know I'll be having difficult conversations with the people in my life so I can pet him and feel a little bit calmer.
When I'm feeling overwhelmed with all that I have to do (chores, assignments, events, etc) I take a half an hour break to take Nico out of his cage, let him play, and sing and play guitar to him.
I would love him just the same even if he doesn't help me so much, but I'm so grateful that just by being himself he makes my mental health so much easier to handle.

I noticed that same common thread myself when I was reading another thread. I also have a bag full of issues. My doctor has me on medication that helps me cope and live a fairly normal life, but Yoda is medicine that makes my life feel meaningful. It's hard to express in words how good he has been for me.

I work from home, but my husband doesn't. He and I are best friends, and in fact neither of us really have any other friends. My family are all in other states and countries, his parents are nearby but he's an only child. He had one other friend when I met him, but he moved away 10 years ago. So apart from my in-laws, it's just the two of us. Week days got so lonely for me, I can't put it into words. I thought a dog might help, but my husband is allergic to dogs and cats. I "settled" for a pet bird, because I figured it was better than nothing. Boy howdy was I mistaken. Thank God Yoda chose me that day we visited the parrot shop. He's nothing like a dog, he's more like a child. He loves me, he needs me, he makes me feel so special, he keeps me company, he gives me something to look forward to every morning, he makes me feel like the day mattered when I go to bed. I love him so much and I'm so proud of him, I want to talk about him and share pictures of him with anyone and everyone, but non-bird people just don't get it. That's why I love posting here. You all GET it. We all share this precious secret about what it means to be a Parront.

Sure sometimes he can be a little brat, and he's embarrassed me more than once when I was on a conference call. Even the challenges though are good for me. He teaches me patience and gives me perspective. I even started making bird toys as a hobby and having that hobby has ALSO been really good for me. Plus it saves me money and Yoda gets new toys every other day or so.

I am noticing a big trend with the experiences shared here so far -- that having parrots gives many a reason to get up in the morning and start the day. They do really depend on us and need us to live, eat and drink, and for many (including myself) that is actually what gets me up out of bed and sort of jump-starts the day. Sometimes I don't think about it, but my animals are the ones to wake me up every day. The cats will meow, the dog will whine, and on weekends if we don't get up until 8am I can hear Boo doing his morning call and I know he's up and I need to uncover him and give him some morning company.

To be clear- I am not a big fan of doctors and thus have never seen one about my anxiety issues so I have no "official" diagnosis, but it doesn't take a PhD to know I have horrible anxiety and have had it most of my life. I have become better at controlling it as I've gotten older. I also likely have some form of mild OCD.

Kiwi generally mirrors my moods- i.e. if I'm calm, he's calm, if I'm anxious, he's anxious... He is not the "comfort animal" type, he's freaking out right there with me. I have actually found this quality about him to be very helpful. Save the (very rare) disagreement between me and my husband or actual life issue, most of my anxiety stems from fictional problems my brain invents. I have a lot of issues with the order of things in our home. With Kiwi's mood changing with mine though, seeing him freaking out over nothing helps me see how I'm freaking out over nothing. It helps me start going through my list of logic and reasons why the kitchen or attic or whatever does not in fact need to be reorganized for the umpteenth billion time because it is already in (by anyone else's perception) already clean and in (near) perfect order already. Or why I don't need to start throwing stuff we actually use out because I feel like we live in a hoarder home when in reality we have probably less stuff and FAR better organizational systems than 90%+ of the population as-is.

I honestly don't think people who have severe mental illnesses should be owning a parrot.

I say this, because I have suffered from depression for most of my life and now have anxiety on top of it. It may pass as I get older, or it may get worse.

Owning a parrot is stressful enough with the vet bills, spending quality time with the bird, and figuring out the bird's body language. You put an aggressive bird in that mix and the anxiety only gets worse. Plus, with depression it is hard enough to take care of one's self at times much less a bird.

However, I do feel that an animal companion adds happiness, self worth, and unconditional love to a person's life. Just not from a bird.

eagle18 said:

I honestly don't think people who have severe mental illnesses should be owning a parrot.

I say this, because I have suffered from depression for most of my life and now have anxiety on top of it. It may pass as I get older, or it may get worse.

Owning a parrot is stressful enough with the vet bills, spending quality time with the bird, and figuring out the bird's body language. You put an aggressive bird in that mix and the anxiety only gets worse. Plus, with depression it is hard enough to take care of one's self at times much less a bird.

However, I do feel that an animal companion adds happiness, self worth, and unconditional love to a person's life. Just not from a bird.

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I’m glad you feel able to express that opinion and of course you are welcome to believe it, but I whole heartedly disagree. My birds have DEMANDED that I come up with effective strategies do even the worst days, and they bring my average day up by miles. If you are able to care for them and/or able to come up with strategies to be sure they are cared for when you cannot do it, there is no reason why you shouldn’t have a bird. Also realize that each person’s experience is his own; you may be unable to preform a task that others are able to.


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