Service Dogs For Anxiety: Harmful or Helpful?
Start writing a post
Health and Wellness

Service Dogs For Anxiety: Harmful or Helpful?

I noticed an increasing amount of people interpreting my disorder purely as anxiety, leading them to believe service dogs can be used for any and all cases of anxiety.

1678
Service Dogs For Anxiety: Harmful or Helpful?
Cathy Gentile

When I first started training my service dog, it was for post-traumatic stress disorder, meaning his tasks would include: interrupting anxious behavior, distracting me through flashbacks/panic attacks to get my focus on him, waking me up from night terrors, etc.

Saxon alerting to anxiety in a doctor's office, a place where my anxiety is always through the roof. At the time, I was shaking my leg and this definitely redirected my focus to him.

It was not until I started getting more and more diagnoses causing me to teach him medical-alert related tasks. But due to posting so many clips of my service dog interrupting anxious behaviors, I noticed an increasing amount of people interpreting my disorder purely as anxiety, leading them to believe service dogs can be used for any and all cases of anxiety.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in America. LiveScience estimated that 31.9% of teens have an anxiety disorder. With 40 million adults over the age of 18 being affected, plus 31.9% of teens, it is clear that anxiety disorders seem to have become the norm in America.

It is no surprise with the fast food we eat, tuition money we pay, and hours we have to work that most of us will experience anxiety at one point or another in the United States, seeing as all these things contribute to mental health.

With that being said, if every teenager who was going through puberty interpreted their hormone changes as "anxiety" (which they do), there would be many service dogs being owner trained by 12 year olds (which there are). Not to mention that mental illnesses are the easiest thing to fake since "you can't fake blindness, deafness or non-functioning limbs." - Todd Smith

The term "psychiatric service dog" is becoming more known as "teens who are depressed and have anxiety" rather than "people who have gone through years of trauma" or "someone who has panic attacks because something triggered them." When I say "panic attacks," I mean full-blown hyperventilating and heart rate above 130. When I say "panic attacks," I mean someone who needs a dog there to regain focus because nothing is more distracting than the thought of your traumatic past. Nothing is more disturbing than reliving the hardest part of your life and constantly being reminded every time you leave the house. People with real, trained service dogs are disabled to the point where they may not be able to leave their house for months in fear of what awaits.

Even people without an anxiety disorder can feel anxious about particular things that make them nervous: giving public speeches, driving alone, etc. The difference here is that those kind of people need an ESA, emotional support dog. Although these dogs are not allowed in public, they do provide comfort and distraction when needed at home or in the car. Emotional support animals are not trained to do specific tasks, they are solely for comfort.

People who need ESAs do not need immediate help in public during panic episodes, seizures, narcolepsy, etc. Most people who train service dogs make the decision after trying many different therapies and medications, all which have failed, leaving only one option: a service animal.

I am not trying to belittle people with anxiety disorders, but the condition must be severe to be recommended a service dog. I am also trying to spread awareness about the dogs who wear this particular ID tag, claiming to be an "emotional support dog:"

This tag is bought online and comes with a "certification card." There is no doctor's note or training required to buy this tag, yet people buy it and claim their animal has public access rights.


For all the business owners who have refused service to anyone who doesn't have this fake tag: you will sooner regret that when a real service animal has a case against your establishment and you sooner realize you have only been accepting fakes.

Consider the people who are under 21 but have a fake ID. Just because they hand it to the bartender and it gets accepted, doesn't mean it's real, but the bartender doesn't know this because he/she is assuming that anyone who hands them an ID is official.

To summarize, people should only have service dogs for anxiety if it is severe enough to disable them. People should not have a service dog if they get anxious or nervous sometimes. In this case, they should have an emotional support animal.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

52032
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

33425
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

956266
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

181178
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments