Service Animals For Social Anxiety

A psychiatric service dog or emotional support dog is an animal that provides practical and emotional assistance to people with anxiety mental illness issues obsessive-compulsive disorder post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD and social anxiety disorder among others.

Service animals for social anxiety. Although an ESA can be of any species having a canine companion may be the biggest help for people with a social phobia. The German shepherd is a natural service dog for anxiety. Poodles and Papillons have also been found to be well-suited to anxiety relief.

The only legal benefits granted to an emotional support animal are the right to bring the animal into the cabin of an airplane. According to the March 15 2011 revision of the Americans with Disabilities Act ADA a service animal is a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Do You Need A Service Dog For Social Anxiety.

If you are not so severely impaired by your social anxiety that you need a service animal a regular petbe it a dog cat bird iguana whatever you feel comfortable withjust might give you the added support and confidence to face your social fears. That said based on the ADA a diagnosis of SAD is necessary to qualify for a service dog which is the first step in getting a service dog. Unlike service animals which are strictly limited to dogs there are many animals that can be considered emotional support animals including dogs cats horses pigs and even hamsters.

Remember that your mental health professional will have to evaluate your anxiety symptoms and provide medical documentation so you can get an ADA-approved therapy dog. You do not need a service dog if you have social anxiety but it can help. Animal-assisted interventions AAI which utilize specially trained non-pet animals trained to achieve therapeutic gains and improved health and wellness education 4 have been shown to provide tremendous relief to those suffering from stress related disorders.

Two of the more popular choices for anxiety service dog breeds are Labrador and Golden retrievers. Emotional Support Animal. As of 2011 the ADA says that psychiatric service dogs do qualify as service animals but they must be trained to perform specific skills.

Unlike service animals emotional support animals arent automatically allowed into stores restaurants and other public places. Service Dog for Anxiety Everything You Need to Know. To qualify for a service dog you need to a have a disability that impairs your activities of daily living and b a service dog could perform tasks that would mitigate the problems from your disability.