Post by UConnChapette on Jun 2, 2018 16:21:52 GMT -5
Anyone know anything about service dogs, specifically how to get one? I know service dogs can be trained to do things like detect anxiety in their owners and can provide comfort to calm the owner down before the attack goes full blown, remember to take medication, etc.
My son suffers from a myriad of emotional and mental illness, with accompanying alcohol abuse. Some statistics show 75% of people with bipolar disorder abuse a substance of some kind. I thank God his chosen substance is alcohol. While still bad, and has led to several hospitalizations for withdrawal and alcohol treatment, it could be worse. It could be heroin or opioids, which are infinitely harder to kick.
His afflictions lead to a vicious cycle. They do not play nice together. His ADD causes him to forget to take medication and miss doctors appointments. The missed doctor appointments lead to lapses in his bipolar medicine regimen. The bipolar medicine lapses leads to anxiety attacks, which in turn leads to self medication with alcohol, and more anxiety and panic attacks and more alcohol, and the anxiety causes the inability to get back to his doctor to get back on the medication.
Right now, he is fresh out of the hospital from withdrawal and detox treatment. He will be starting an intensive outpatient program next week. As he and I were discussing what might help him cope with the anxiety aspect and keep his mind clear enough to focus on his other issues, he told me he would like a dog. One of his best friends has a dog, and my son finds hanging with the dog to be calming and helps ease his anxiety. His concern about a dog, though, is working full time caring for a dog would be difficult. He mentioned one of the people he works with, a vet who served in Kabul, has a service dog to help with his PTSD. So we started talking maybe this might be an option for him. He would need a service dog, not simply an emotional support dog (no, not a peacock). Employers must allow service dogs, and apartments must allow them without charging additional rent. I think having a service dog might help reduce his anxiety, especially one who can be trained to detect the rising anxiety and panic and intervene before it escalates out of control.
I recommended he talk to his psychiatrist if he might be a good candidate for a service dog. But in the meantime I am trying to find out as much as I can about service dogs, how to qualify for one, obtain one, help train one, etc.
I know we don’t have a really broad base of posters, so the likelihood of anyone here having any experience in this area is slim. But I am putting this out here because you just never know.
My son suffers from a myriad of emotional and mental illness, with accompanying alcohol abuse. Some statistics show 75% of people with bipolar disorder abuse a substance of some kind. I thank God his chosen substance is alcohol. While still bad, and has led to several hospitalizations for withdrawal and alcohol treatment, it could be worse. It could be heroin or opioids, which are infinitely harder to kick.
His afflictions lead to a vicious cycle. They do not play nice together. His ADD causes him to forget to take medication and miss doctors appointments. The missed doctor appointments lead to lapses in his bipolar medicine regimen. The bipolar medicine lapses leads to anxiety attacks, which in turn leads to self medication with alcohol, and more anxiety and panic attacks and more alcohol, and the anxiety causes the inability to get back to his doctor to get back on the medication.
Right now, he is fresh out of the hospital from withdrawal and detox treatment. He will be starting an intensive outpatient program next week. As he and I were discussing what might help him cope with the anxiety aspect and keep his mind clear enough to focus on his other issues, he told me he would like a dog. One of his best friends has a dog, and my son finds hanging with the dog to be calming and helps ease his anxiety. His concern about a dog, though, is working full time caring for a dog would be difficult. He mentioned one of the people he works with, a vet who served in Kabul, has a service dog to help with his PTSD. So we started talking maybe this might be an option for him. He would need a service dog, not simply an emotional support dog (no, not a peacock). Employers must allow service dogs, and apartments must allow them without charging additional rent. I think having a service dog might help reduce his anxiety, especially one who can be trained to detect the rising anxiety and panic and intervene before it escalates out of control.
I recommended he talk to his psychiatrist if he might be a good candidate for a service dog. But in the meantime I am trying to find out as much as I can about service dogs, how to qualify for one, obtain one, help train one, etc.
I know we don’t have a really broad base of posters, so the likelihood of anyone here having any experience in this area is slim. But I am putting this out here because you just never know.