Ways a Psych-Service Dog (PSD) can help
Room searches/Security Check
Hypervigilance is a hallmark symptom of PTSD and can really make your day rough. To help mitigate this symptom, service dogs can be trained to perform room searches or safety checks. This is when the dog goes into each room and then alerts the handler that the house is safe.
Companionship
Having a corgi companion can be therapeutic, by helping with feelings of being isolated and alone. They also help reduce anxiety and other PTSD symptoms while improving a handler’s coping mechanisms. A PSD can help a veteran gain back the confidence and freedom they lost.
Interrupting Night Terrors
Night terrors are a common symptom of PTSD. A PSD can recognize the signs of a night terror and interrupts it.
Medication
PSDs can remind a veteran its time to take their medication, and can be trainned to retrieve it.
Reduce Suicidal Thoughts
Service dogs can help reduce the symptoms of depression, which in turn helps reduce suicidal thoughts (&prevent suicide). A service corgi can give the veteran a reason to get out of bed.
Anxiety & Panic Attacks
PSDs are trained to recognize symptoms of anxiety and perform tasks to disrupt anxiety behaviors. This is an important way in which a PSD can help a veteran with PTSD reduce anxiety. **Not all alerts are perceptive to onlookers.
Dissociating
Dissociation is a symptom of PTSD and can display itself in several ways (including flashbacks; a disconnection of the self; having a disconnection with time or feeling detached from reality). When a handler is in a dissociative state, a PSD guides the veteran to a safe place, an exit, back home or even to find a specific person.
Grounding
PSDs can even help “ground” the veteran to bring them back to reality. This is an incredible skill! It helps combat time blindness as well.
References 1) What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? American Psychiatric Association. Accessed December 19, 2020 https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd 2) US Department of Veterans Affairs. VA.gov. Accessed December 20, 2020 https://www.ptsd.va.gov/ 3) “The Four Types of Symptoms of PTSD” RWJBarnabas Health. Accessed December 20, 2020 https://www.rwjbh.org/treatment-care/mental-health-and-behavioral-health/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/the-four-types-of-symptoms-of-ptsd/ 4) Maynard, Erin "Service Dogs. The ADA, and PTSD" Very Well Mind. Updated on September 17, 2020. Accessed December 20, 2020 https://www.verywellmind.com/the-problems-with-service-dogs-the-ada-and-ptsd-2797679 5) “The Most Important Task for a PTSD Service Dog for Veterans is Disrupting Anxiety” Purdue University. Science Daily. July 22, 2020. Accessed December 20, 2020 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200722142116.htm 6) Kerri E. Rodriguez, Megan R. LaFollette, Karin Hediger, Niwako Ogata, Marguerite E. O’Haire. “Defining the PTSD Service Dog Intervention: Perceived Importance, Usage, and Symptom Specificity of Psychiatric Service Dogs for Military Veterans” Frontiers in Psychology, 2020; 11 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01638/full 7) Tull, Matthew PHD “What Is Dissociation?” VerywellMind. July 19, 2020. Accessed December 21, 2020 https://www.verywellmind.com/dissociation-2797292 8) “Psychiatric Service Dogs” National Service Animal Registry. Accessed December 21, 2020 https://www.nsarco.com/qualify-psychiatric-service-dog.html#:~:text=A%20psychiatric%20Service%20Dog%20is,mitigate%20their%20handler's%20psychiatric%25%2020disability. 9) “Comprehensive List of Service Dog Tasks” National Service Animal Registry. Accessed December 22, 2020 https://www.nsarco.com/ptsd-service-dog-tasks.html