Anxiety can ruin a person’s everyday life, particularly if severe and chronic. In many cases, anxiety is so detrimental – for those suffering from General Anxiety Disorder as an example – that victims struggle to undergo regular, everyday tasks. Often, medication can be of help but isn’t an overarching solution for those victims. For this reason, an emotional support dogs for anxiety can be of extreme benefit.
How Can an Emotional Support Dogs Help?
An emotional support dog for anxiety has several incredible benefits. Animals are becoming an increasingly common aid for those who suffer from a wide range of emotional disorders, anxiety included. But many people wonder whether or not emotional support animals are an actual, proven form of treatment. The fact of the matter is, emotional support animals can help to mitigate symptoms of anxiety and provide a calming presence for those who suffer. Animals have long been shown to lower overall levels of stress, as well as increase the ability to engage and enhance feelings of calmness socially.
While they can be beneficial for anxiety, it should be noted that an emotional support dog or other animal is not the same as a service dog. Emotional support animals do not perform a service; instead, they help anxiety sufferers feel calm and reduce the feelings of nervousness, overwhelming emotions, or an anxiety attack. It’s important to know that they do not undergo any specific type of training. An emotional support dog is the most common type of animal used to help those with anxiety, but the law doesn’t limit emotional support animals to just dogs. Because animals do not have to perform any tasks or undergo specific training to be an emotional support pet, other types of animals, such as pigs, birds, and cats, can also do the job. However, the only legal requirement for an emotional support animal is that the animal does not threaten the health and safety of others, and that a medical professional (such as a physician or therapist) has prescribed the use of the Emotional Support Animal through an ESA letter.
How to Go About Emotional Support Dog Registration
It should also be noted that just having a diagnosis of anxiety does not automatically qualify anyone to own an emotional support dog. To legally utilize an emotional support dog or animal, you need an official diagnosis, as well as a letter written by a licensed provider that states the animal is necessary for your health. Once you have these things, you can begin the emotional support dog registration process. Registration is a supplemental part of the process that many owners find useful in maximizing their rights when bringing their emotional support animals with them in public places as it reduces questioning and confrontation. Upon registering, you will receive documentation (ID cards, certificate, and/or tags) for your dog which serves to let others know your dog is an emotional support dog and not just a pet.
It is essential to understand that an emotional support dog will not always have the same rights and permissions as a service dog. Essentially, an emotional support dog will not have as much freedom to go wherever its owner goes. Some establishments do not freely allow access to emotional support dogs as they do with service dogs. Unless state laws specify otherwise, your emotional support dog may be legally denied entry to restaurants, stores, and other public businesses. However, as the owner of an emotional support dog, you do have housing and travel rights on most airlines. In most cases, an emotional support dog for anxiety will be allowed on a plane with its owner without the need for a crate. It is also required that your emotional support dog be allowed to live with you, even if the housing facility in which you reside doesn’t usually allow pets.
An emotional support dog may be the solution for someone who suffers from anxiety. They are shown to induce feelings of calm, reduce anxiety and its symptoms, and even improve social engagement skills. Anxiety sufferers may find the presence of an emotional support dog or another animal to be highly beneficial.