To: disabdis
Cc: service-dogs-invisible-disabilities@ucsd.edu
Subject: Australia: Assistance Dogs for persons with mental health
disabilities

Dear Sir/Madam,


I am a scientist working at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington,
DC (USA).  I am also President of the Psychiatric Service Dog Society, a
nonprofit organization devoted to the responsible usage of highly trained
assistance dogs by persons living with severe mental health disabilities.  I
am writing this letter in support of your efforts to include Psychiatric
Service Dogs (PSD) in the definition of 'assistance animal' in Australia.
PSD may be trained to perform a variety of tasks that assist persons with
mental health disabilities.  For example, an individual with Panic Disorder
may use a dog to 'alert' in advance to oncoming episodes. This affords a
handler the opportunity to take medication to prevents such attacks (eg,
Ativan).   When a panic attack does occur, a PSD may also be trained to
'lean' into the handler's body to provide stability and warmth during the
attack.   For Major Depression, a PSD may be trained to 'hug' 'cuddle' and
'stay' for tactile stimulation sessions.  Tactile stimulation provides a
temporary distraction from inner pain and reassures the handler in a manner
that reduces extreme levels of discomfort.  For Schizophrenia, a PSD may be
used for hallucination discernment.  In this instance, a handler who is
perceiving voices or illusory 'persons' looks to his/her dog to see how the
dog is responding.  If the dog is lying on the ground quiet and unresponsive,
then the handler may conclude that the stimulus is a hallucination, rather
than reality.  Although this is not a 'task' per se, it is an invaluable form
of assistance to those who suffer from hallucinations.  There are many more
examples of how PSD assist, but I just wanted to give you a feel for the
'science' of PSD assistance.  

I would like to take issue with one of the comments made on your website.
The comment referred to the provision of comfort by assistance animals to
persons with mental health disabilities.  It is important when talking about
assistance animals that the relief (comfort) provided to a mentally ill
handler NOT be compared to the comfort enjoyed by all persons with a dog, or
assistance dog.  Those with mental health disabilities are by definition, in
a state of pathological discomfort, whereas the physically disabled and
nondisabled populations are not.  Therefore the significance of 'provision of
comfort' is so much more to a person in the throes of mental illness, than to
others.  Please do not diminish the therapeutic effect that the provision of
comfort has, for a person DISABLED by mental illness.  This is a common
mistake, and I want to bring it to your attention.

The Psychiatric Service Dog Society is undertaking clinical research on the
impact of PSD on their handlers.  Through our research, we've learned that
self-training is the PREFERRED method for training a PSD.  The reason for
this invokes many principles of psychiatry and behavioral health, but I will
summarize as follows.  Learning to train one's own PSD demands that the
handler adopt a behavioral mindset.  This mindset helps the handler not only
to train her dog, but also to view her own symptoms in a cognitive behavioral
framework.  Self-training facilitates mind/body awareness.  As the dog bonds
to the handler through training, the dog becomes attuned to subtle behavioral
changes in the handler.  A well-bonded dog will 'alert' or respond to these
changes.  This in turns provides bio-feedback to the handler.  Over time, the
handler learns to recognize these exchanges and is better able to subvert the
escalation of symptoms through cognitive behavioral techniques and when
necessary, additional medication.  Understand, a PSD is not a replacement for
medication management and psychotherapy.  In fact, we promote PSD
specifically, as a therapeutic adjunct.  

In conclusion, please adopt a definition of 'assistance animal'  that
accommodates the need for people with mental health disabilities to train
their own PSD.  This IS a highly successful intervention, and it would be a
shame to deny such a large sector of the disabled population an outlet for
their recovery.  Here in the United States, our service dog laws are
'balanced' in that self-training is allowed and access is granted to persons
accommpanied by their PSD, but a business person has the right exclude ANY
assistance animal, who misbehaves at any time.  This is a balanced form of
behavioral 'insurance' that protects everyone.  I am easily reached should
you require additional information about PSD.

Sincerely Yours,  

Joan Esnayra

Joan Esnayra, PhD,  President 
Psychiatric Service Dog Society
www.psychdog.org;  www.sdid.net