Over 500,000 service animals are working for and helping disabled people get around.
You may be familiar with service animals, but what is an emotional support animal?
In this blog post, we’ll discuss their roles and how people qualify for emotional support animals. If you suffer from emotional difficulties, you may qualify to have a support animal accompany you wherever you go.
For more information all about what emotional support animals are and how you can qualify for one, read on.
What Is an Emotional Support Animal?
An emotional support animal is an animal that a mental health expert prescribes. While that may sound a bit silly out of context, it makes total sense if you think about it. For some people, having their pet around them helps keep them calm or helps them feel as though they have a purpose.
Pets, especially dogs and other animals that require much interaction give many very depressed people a purpose to wake up in the morning. A dog, for example, may also force someone who wouldn’t otherwise want to to go outside and take walks and do things for someone other than themselves.
For your pet to qualify as an emotional support animal or ESA, your therapist or mental health professional must feel that the animal is paramount to your mental wellbeing.
How Is an Emotional Support Animal Different From a Service Animal?
A service animal is an animal that is specially trained to perform tasks and make life generally easier for a person with a disability. Take, for example, dogs for the blind. These dogs are trained from birth to perform tasks that many household pets are not trained to do. As a result, service animals must be allowed in any indoor event in the United States.
Emotional support animals, or ESAs, are not necessarily trained in anything special. Their presence is calming to their owner, but they do not perform specific tasks. As such, some places may legally restrict an emotional support animal’s entry.
How Do I Qualify for an ESA?
An emotional support animal doesn’t need special training to qualify. If you think your pet helps ease your anxiety or mental health issues, speak to your doctor. They may be able to help you go through the process of legally claiming your pet as an emotional support animal.
You can also do this online through a variety of websites, like this one: https://americanservicepets.com/.
Your Emotional Support Animal
Anyone who has a pet knows that there is no such thing as “just a pet,” and if you’re someone who suffers from mental health issues, you likely know how much their presence can be comforting. Having a pet companion as an emotional support animal can help you get through a rough patch in life, as well as help you get back on track.
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