How Can a Service Animal Help You Overcome Anxiety?

Anxiety is a common mental illness affecting over 40 million American adults. Some of the common symptoms of anxiety are-

Excessive worrying
Sleep problems
Trouble concentration
Negative thoughts
Fatigue or sweating
Nervousness

There’s a wide range of medications for treating anxiety disorders, which can help in alleviating symptoms. But, the medications can lead to unpleasant side-effects. Animal-assisted therapy is getting popular as an effective, alternative anxiety treatment. It’s based on the fact that animals provide ultimate emotional support, helping patients to get off symptoms such as loneliness, negative thoughts, etc.

Read on to learn how ESAs can help anxiety sufferers make their lives enjoyable & what’s the easiest method to get an emotional support animal doctor letter.

How Can ESAs Help Patients With Anxiety

Animals are real medications. They provide love, comfort, and company to help patients manage their anxiety symptoms. Thus, dogs, cats, and other pets that provide emotional support and psychological benefits are referred to as emotional support animals (ESAs). ESAs can be of any age, you can even get ESA letters for puppies and kittens.

ESAs are proven beneficial for relieving feelings of loneliness, thus improving the patients’ mood and boosting focus. Loneliness is one of the major contributing factors among anxiety sufferers.

Moreover, when you’re with your emotional support animal, you don’t have time for negative thoughts. No negative thoughts means no excessive worrying. Thus, you will be able to function properly in your everyday life.

Pets provide the ultimate relief from stress, thus making their owners feel happy and relaxed. Additionally, pet companionship can help you change the way you react to stressful situations, thus making your life enjoyable.

A 2001 study found that pet owners had lower blood pressure levels and heart rates. Moreover, they performed better in physical and psychological stress tests.

Medical researchers have also confirmed that emotional support animals can people sleep better because they provide comfort and a sense of security. This helps in alleviating sleep disorders such as insomnia, thus controlling anxiety.

Easiest Way to Get an ESA Letter

Getting an ESA doctor letter allows you to surpass the common pet restrictions such as finding a rental apartment and flying with your pet. Two important ESA laws are-

Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) – It allows passengers to fly with their emotional support animals in-cabin without paying any pet travel fees.
Fair Housing Amendment Act (FHAA) – It allows tenants to live with their ESAs in rental apartments without paying any extra pet deposits.

To avail of these facilities, you need to have an ESA letter signed by a licensed mental health professional.

With telemedicine services, getting an emotional support animal letter has become very easy. You can see a mental health professional online and get your ESA letter within a few minutes. The process involves three simple steps-

Sign up your account online
Talk to a licensed therapist through a HIPAA-compliant software
Receive your ESA letter in PDF format through the email

Conclusion

Animal-assisted therapy has proven helpful in managing symptoms of anxiety such as negative thoughts, insomnia, and excessive worrying. Pet companionship provides comfort and love, helping anxiety sufferers reduce stress levels and promote wellness. Although medications such as SSRIs, SNRIs, TCAs, and Benzodiazepines can also help in treating anxiety disorders, they can cause certain risks. These include weight gain, headaches, nausea, etc. But, this doesn’t happen when you’re treating the condition using pet therapy.

By getting an ESA letter, you can live and fly with your emotional support animal without paying extra pet deposits/fees under the Fair Housing Amendment Act and the Air Carrier Access Act.

Talk to a licensed therapist to get an emotional support animal doctor’s letter.