Should You Get an Emotional Support Animal?
NancyR
Any pet owner can confirm how much happiness animals bring every day. They offer unconditional love and can quickly warm your heart with just one look. Because of this, many healthcare professionals suggest getting an Emotional Support Dog Registration to help care for a person’s mental health.
Also known as ESA, these animals provide many benefits that help with one’s emotional wellness. According to Counseling Today, they can help you relax, lower your anxiety, ease the feeling of loneliness, reduce depression, and more. They are also believed to benefit your physical health. Because they help keep you calm, these animals can normalize your heart rate and blood pressure.
ESAs could be any animal. It could be a cat, a duck, or even an exotic animal. But many people usually choose dogs as their ESA. Unlike other animals, humans and canines have a stronger bond. This is because they are more showy and are easier to train. But then again, you’re free to choose which animal should be your ESA as long as they serve their purpose – and that is providing you with emotional support.
But don’t confuse ESAs with service dogs. Many people think that these two are interchangeable. However, these animals are meant for different tasks.
Service animals are specially trained to perform tasks to assist people with disabilities. Therapetics explain that emotional support animals, on the other hand, are more of a companion. Expert trainers say that any animal can become an ESA. However, Therapetic's emotional support animals still need to meet a few requirements in order to qualify to become a support animal, so it’s important that the animals are capable of being of emotional assistance.
Getting an ESA
Getting an emotional support animal isn’t difficult. You won’t have to go through a long process. But first, you will need to determine if you would benefit from an ESA’s support. To do this, talk to a mental health professional and see if you are suffering from the following conditions:
- Learning disabilities
- Attention Deficit Disorder, also known as ADD
- Anxiety disorders
- Post Traumatic Syndrome, also known as PTSD
- Depression
- Tic disorders
- Gender identity disorder
- Bipolar disorder
- Substance-related disorder (including alcohol and drugs
- Cognitive disorders
- Mental Retardation
- Sexual disorder
If you’re suffering from any of these conditions, you can ask for an emotional support animal prescription. This will serve as a proof that you need your animal beside you at all times. But it’s not just an ordinary letter. A legitimate prescription for an ESA should have the following:
- Mental health care provider’s license number and contact information
- Sign of the healthcare professional
- State that you’re the patient and that the animal in question is your companion
- Date of prescription
Also note that you’ll need to keep your prescription current, especially if you plan to travel with your emotional support animal. Thus, you’ll need to meet with your healthcare provider more.
Owning an emotional support animal is a long-term commitment. But they can offer a ton of benefits. No matter what animal you choose, their companionship and unconditional love is unparalleled, which makes them worth considering.
