Rick Nauert Mental Health

“The VA’s reason for not covering service dogs for mental health disabilities is that the agency follows an evidence-based model and published studies or sound clinical evidence supporting the mental health benefits of service dogs is lacking,” Weinmeyer stated, (2). Weinmeyer said, “this lack of empirical evidence is not for the lack of effort” and “the VA actually has been working to obtain scientific evidence of service dogs for veterans suffering from mental health problems for several years”

“A Healthy Dose of Puppy Love” by Kathryn Satterfield describes a new study that shows that dogs can improve an individual’s health by lowering anxiety levels and by improving cardiac function. Specially trained therapy dogs visited a hospital in November in Dallas, Texas to help conduct a study that animals can improve an individual’s health, to do this people split the seventy six patients into a total of three groups: visitors with dogs, visitors, and an “at rest group.” For accurate results researches preformed anxiety tests on the patients before, during, and after the visit, and the results concluded that patients who received visits from people had encountered a ten percent drop in anxiety, while patients who received visits from dogs

In an article published by Time magazine, they stated “40,000 troops have been physically wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq, but 10 times as many exhibit symptoms of PTSD.” This means four-hundred thousand troops are still suffering from these symptoms. In the Time article, it talks about how scientists learned that dogs can lower these symptoms in veterans. These scientist have proven this by using many individuals cases and comparing the intensity of their symptoms without therapy dogs to the patients with therapy dogs. Although many people believe dogs cannot lower symptoms of disorders, scientists like those interviewed for the Time article are proving them wrong. Therapy dogs positively affect war veterans by lowering their Post Traumatic

In today’s society, service dogs are very critical for current U.S soldiers and veterans that deal with PTSD and stress disorder especially saving lives within the Military field. Service dogs are not being noticed by individuals in a world that is full of technological influence because there are so many other little things to preoccupy their time. The service of these particular dogs offer are very beneficial especially to soldier that have PSTD and also reducing stress. Carl Ringberg, a current Missouri army veteran, Luthy, Air Force veteran, and Brett Simon, a current army solider had benefited from a service dog. These particular Individuals found positive results while having a service dog by their side and this service dogs completely

It is proven that dogs can help humans overcome stress and anxiety. In “How Dogs Can Help Veterans Overcome PTSD” by Chris Colin, He writes about how dogs can be used as a tool to help people who suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). The article states that when people bond with their dogs their oxytocin levels increase. Oxytocin helps improve trust, and the interpretation of facial expressions. This can help people with PTSD be able to overcome their fears and interact with other people. In “ Therapy Dogs Help Students De-Stress” by Jen Christensen, It talks about how at some colleges now during finals week dogs are brought in to see the students. After spending ten minutes with the dogs the

Often, anxiety disorders, depression, agoraphobia, and other emotional impairments are treated with medication and extensive counseling. Those suffering physical, mental, sensory, and intellectual disabilities commonly are treated with service animals. Individuals with a psychiatric disability, by the ADA, do not qualify for service dogs, even if they come with several benefits. I believe that anybody suffering any kind of disability, provided they are diagnosed with a severe case, should qualify for a service animal. They encourage getting out of the house, could potentially decrease the number of number of suicides, and defeat the long-term effects of antidepressants.

What's one thing you remember from your childhood? Is it the tree house you spent countless hours in; your curly haired best friend? How about the pup you went on all your adventures with? The dog that protected you from danger and licked you back to health when you got hurt. The one that slept at the end of your bed and comforted you when you had a bad dream. Countless Americans refer to their dogs as their "best friend". This doesn't just apply to civilians, however. Servicemen and servicewomen of the United States Military have been known to develop a strong bond with the animals they work alongside with. Military working dogs(MWDs) have been an immense blessing to the lives of thousands of soldiers.

In the wake of the wars, our military’s men and women have experienced things that most people cannot dare to dream of. Although some of them are able to transition into the civilian life, many are left with scars that are mentally and physically traumatic. Rick Yount established Warrior Canine Connection in order to help veterans and their families find a service dog to successfully guide and aid veterans to become stronger and to function better. Service dogs have been around for many years helping veterans get back on their feet and helping them with their disabilities. Post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury affect hundreds of veterans each day. Those who suffer from amputated limbs must rely on others and mechanical devices to function.

Pets have long been known to have beneficial health effects on people, both physically and mentally. However, for someone with severe mental illnesses like major depression and anxiety, a psychiatric service dog can be a life-saver. With time, these dogs become more attuned to the needs of their handler/human, and can often recognize signs that even other people cannot. These non-judgmental, loyal, and trained animals can provide the right kind of care to mental health patients and set them on the path to

dogs get assigned to men who have PTSD and it is said that their anxiety drops 50% within the first 30 minutes of the patient being with the dogs. When i had my dog, despite having to feed her and take her on walks, she made my life a lot easier. In the article “how

Every year there are well over 7 million cases of PTSD that are announced (Kledzik). A small percentage of the people on Earth at some point in their life span will have some form of PTSD. A solution that will be able to help these people is commonly referred to as “man’s best friend.” For many years PTSD dogs have been useful to relieve the severe symptoms of this disorder. They have proven themselves to be more than just an animal. Post-traumatic stress disorder dogs are far beyond just man’s best friend; they protect the protectors far after the wars end.

As a war veteran from two tours, Captain Montalvan suffered from significant PTSD as well as physical problems. Before he received Tuesday from the service dog training facility, ECAD, Captain Montalvan rarely went anywhere outside his New York City apartment or socialized. When he got Tuesday, the service dog was able to act as a barrier for the physically and mentally disabled soldier. Tuesday gave him the confidence to face to bustling subway and crowded sidewalks with only minor issues and eventually graduate from Columbia University. Like Captain Montalvan and Tuesday, service dogs do not erase all of their handler’s issues and handicaps, however, they significantly improve their quality of life.

Animals have been used to help in treatment of mental health as far back as 1972 (Trivedi & Perl, 1995). Horses have been shown to be able to calm people and allow them to open up in therapy sessions. There are many people who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and exhibit mistrust, easy to react with anger and hyper-aware of their surroundings, characteristics that can be seen in horses. Horses are prey animals and therefor they are very aware of their surroundings and watch body language to see a possible threat, people must be the leader with out being at all aggressive as to scare the horse in to a flight response (MacLean, 2011). For many with PTSD it may be easier to form a trusting, positive relationship with horses that understand them then it can be with people even people they have know for a long time. The horses seem to understand people, reading their body language and mirroring, showing these behaviors more than any other animal and this is what makes them great for therapy,allowing people to open up, relax, be in control, while trusting. The Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EGALA, 2014) has 600 equine assisted therapies programs, but more studies are needed to have evidence of the effectiveness of these programs.

“There are currently over 400,000 Veterans in treatment for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and it is estimated that with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars there is an additional 33% increase in our returning soldiers.” Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has become a severe issue for veterans returning from overseas. One of the most effective, yet unused resources given to veterans to help them cope with their disorder is specially trained dogs. These dogs help veterans with everyday life and keep them company, giving them a sense of tranquility and security. However, these dogs are extremely expensive, making it hard for veterans to obtain them. My research proposal will investigate several grey areas of these dogs. Are these dogs really the most effective way to treat PTSD? Why are these dogs not utilized as much as if they are proven to work the best? My project will also touch on if there is a less expensive way to train the dogs. This project will prove that dogs really are the best way to treat this disorder, find an answer as to why these dogs are not utilized more, and try to find a cheaper way to train these dogs.

Emotional support animals can take on a multitude of jobs that “may include reminding the handler to take medicine, providing safety checks or room searches, or turning on lights for persons with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, interrupting self-mutilation by persons with dissociative identity disorders, and keeping disoriented individuals from danger,” (Brennan). These animals are often considered pets but are actually so much more than that, emotional support animals have a very important role in protecting the mental health of their owners and keep them safe. Not only do these animals protect people’s mental health but they also give people a purpose. Taking care of one of these dogs or other animals gives people something to take care of and focus on. Knowing that there is another living thing that relies on them can be very grounding and keep people connected to something outside of themselves.