Psychiatric assistance dog

Psychiatric Service Dogs are a specific type of assistance dog. Psychiatric Service Dogs, also known as PSDs, are individually trained to assist their handler with a psychiatric disability, including, but not limited to Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Autism, Anxiety Disorders, and Schizophrenia.

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990), a dog is considered a "service dog" if it has been "individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability." Disability is defined as a "mental or physical condition which substantially limits a major life activity"

Psychiatric service dogs must be trained to perform tasks that mitigate their handler's disability, and are not emotional support animals. Some tasks that psychiatric service dogs can be trained to do include:

• Blocking at curbs to prevent a dissociated handler from stepping out into traffic
• Doing a room search for a handler with PTSD
• Hallucination discernment
• Guiding a disoriented handler
• Interrupting repetitive actions, such as skin-picking

Psychiatric service dogs may any breed suited for public access work. Many are trained by the person who will become the dog's handler, ideally with the assistance of a professional trainer. However, assistance dog organizations are increasingly recognizing the need for dogs to help individuals with psychiatric disabilities.

In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act allow handlers of psychiatric service dogs the same rights and protections afforded to those with other types of assistance dogs. Some state laws also provide protection to PSD handlers.

External links

Psychiatric Service Dogs are a specific type of assistance dog. Psychiatric Service Dogs, also known as PSDs, are individually trained to assist their handler with a psychiatric disability, including, but not limited to Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Autism, Anxiety Disorders, and Schizophrenia.

Like all assistance dogs, a psychiatric service dog are "...individually trained to do work or perform tasks...", including, but not limited to:

• Medication reminders at specific times of the day
• Alerting to incipient episodes such as significant mood shifts, panic attacks, or dissociative episodes
• Responding to an episode in a manner that is adaptive for the handler
• Waking the handler if she sleeps through alarms or cannot otherwise get herself out of bed
• Assisting a handler with hallucination discernment
• Assisting a handler with environmental assessment (i.e., reality-testing for feelings of fear and paranoia)
• Interrupting a handler's repetitive or self-injurious behaviors
• Assisting a handler with Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia to safely leave her home or to lead her out of a triggering situation.
• Carrying a handler's identification in case of dissociative episodes or fugue states
• Leading a handler out of a crowd during a panic attack, fugue state or dissociative episode
• Providing exclusive focus and tactile stimulation when a handler requires it in order to mitigate symptoms
• Aiding with mobility when the handler is dizzy from medication or has psychosomatic (physical) symptoms

Psychiatric service dogs may be of any breed suited for public work. Many are trained by the person who will become the dog's handler (with or without the help of a professional trainer). However, assistance dog organizations are increasingly recognizing the need for dogs to help individuals with psychiatric disabilities.

In the United States, federal law (such as the Americans with Disabilities Act) and sometimes state laws, allow handlers of psychiatric service dogs the same rights and protections afforded to those with other types of assistance dogs.

External links

• [http://www.psychdog.org Psychiatric Service Dog Society founded by Dr. Joan Esnayra who created the PSD therapeutic model in 1997
• Bazelon's List of Limitations on Major Life Activities for Psychiatric Disabilities
• Service Dog Tasks for Psychiatric Disabilities
• Psychiatric Service Dogs

• Bazelon's List of Limitations on Major Life Activities for Psychiatric Disabilities
• Service Dog Tasks for Psychiatric Disabilities
• Psychiatric Service Dogs
• Assistance Dogs International