Animals can be enormous stress relievers, especially for overwhelmed college students – who wouldn’t love to pet puppies during finals week? Both personal pets, and registered emotional support animals can provide much-needed therapeutic benefits to people who suffer from anxiety or depression, two serious problems on college campuses. Unlike service animals, they can work with anyone, not just individuals with disabilities. This means that laws protecting service animals in no-pet housing, on flights, or in businesses where pets are not allowed, do not apply to emotional support animals, unless the owner is diagnosed by a mental health professional, which can be difficult for a college student struggling with an untreated mental health issue, and making these animals hard to access for a growing population of people that would greatly appreciate their help.

The amount of stress that college students feel now is high. According to the American College Health Association’s National Health Assessment II for the Spring 2015 Reference Group: 49.5% of students report feeling that things were hopeless within the last year, 86.7% have felt overwhelmed by all they had to do, and 57.7% have felt overwhelmed with anxiety sometime within the last 12 months. With 42.4% of students feeling their level of stress was more than average, feeling trapped is common, and a variety of methods aimed at healthily handling these stresses should be available to students as well.

Many universities do attempt to address the issue of mental health among the student body. Creating environments that work to lessen stigmas associated with problems such as anxiety and depression, or offering counseling in on-campus centers, are all valiant efforts, but appointments can fill up quickly, and students may not realize their problem is serious until they begin experiencing negative effects that are difficult to quickly address. Extracurricular activities – sports, musical groups, clubs – that used to act as common outlets for prospering and struggling students alike, are now another piece necessary framework in any competitive resume, drowning those students who already find it difficult motivate themselves for class, or feel desperately overwhelmed with work.

Offering easily accessible therapeutic contact with animals is a recourse that colleges use sparingly, offering interaction during only the most stressful times of the semester, if at all. Residence halls understandably don’t allow more than small fish in dorm rooms, if anything, and registering for a service animal is hardly feasible for a student that does not yet consider themselves conventionally disabled. These restrictions cut off students who could benefit from the companionship of a small pet as a comforting friend.

Emotional service animals are a treatment resource that should be realistically considered when it comes to dealing with stress and anxiety on college campuses. These animals can have great therapeutic value, offer a helping hand in motivating those students who feel that everything is too much to handle, and especially, act as a preventative measure to work towards safer learning environments. Of course, allowing students to keep pets in their dorm rooms isn’t an immediately practical option, but that isn’t the only way to incorporate the benefits that these pets can offer into daily campus life. Exploring the option of regularly accessible contact with therapy animals by campus administration could be a truly effective way for students to cope with stresses and expectations.