There are many types of psychiatric service dogs that serve individuals with a wide range of invisible disabilities. Below are just a few examples:
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Psychiatric Service Dog
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder may affect those that have gone through an extremely stressful or life-changing situation. Many people who suffer from PTSD use psychiatric service dogs to help treat their symptoms. Some of the tasks a PSD can perform for someone with PTSD include:
- Help block and buffer the handler in crowded areas
- Calm the handler using deep pressure therapy
- Retrieve medications
- Provide security enhancement tasks (such as room search)
- Interrupt destructive behaviors
Depression Psychiatric Service Dog
People who suffer from severe depression oftentimes do not want to leave their homes and find it difficult to engage in life activities. They have constant negative thoughts and are sometimes suicidal. PSDs help chronically depressed people get back to living a normal life by:
- Providing comfort with responsive touch
- Retrieving medications (and reminding the handler to take them)
- Providing tactile stimulation by licking the face when the handler is distressed
- Helping the handler establish a daily routine
- Preventing the handler from oversleeping or being too sedentary
Anxiety Psychiatric Service Dog
Anxiety can strike us at any time, but for those that have chronic anxiety, it can be debilitating. This condition can create excessive uneasiness and apprehension and may lead to compulsive behaviors or panic attacks. A PSD can be trained to help anxiety attacks by:
- Keeping the person grounded by licking or pawing
- Applying deep pressure therapy (for example, by lying across the handler’s body)
- Recognizing the signs of an impending panic attack
- Retrieving medications
- Leading the handler out of a building
- Alerting a loved one
- Finding/bringing a telephone
- Blocking people from crowding the handler
If it’s not obvious what service the service dog provides, which is frequently the case with psychiatric service dogs, then staff members are only allowed to ask two questions:
- Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
- What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?
Note that if you are flying with your PSD, airlines are permitted under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s rules to ask for documentation. The exact requirements vary from airline to airline, and you should always check ahead of booking to see what your airline’s policies are.
SubRosa Mental Services requires ALL dogs be at a minimum of 12 months old to be considered as a PSD. A psychiatric service dog MUST be trained to perform a very specific task related to the disability. In addition to the specific training the PSD must be trained in accordance with the Public Access Test.
To request an ESA or PSD evaluation or letter, please click the link.
