How to Qualify for an Emotional Support Animal
In order to qualify for an ESA animal you must be diagnosed with an emotional disorder by a licenced psychologist, psychiatrist, or therapist. Be sure to have a letter from one of the recognized sources when going about getting a support animal. Additionally, airlines, property managers, and other businesses must accept these letters and allow you access with your chosen animal. Here are somethings that a qualifying letter must contain in order to be accepted.
- A current signature from a mental health professional.
- It should also contain the mental health disability that your have been diagnosed with.
- A description of how your disability impairs your function in everyday life.
- Must be dated within the year if you are submitting it to an airline or housing department.
What Qualifies You?
While ptsd animals can be trained to specifically respond to those with post traumatic stress disorder, animals can also be trained to respond to the needs of many different emotional disorders.
- Learning disorders and attention deficit disorders
- Disorders that inhibit motor skills
- Bipolar and personality disorders
- Cognitive disorders
- Disorders caused by previous substance use
Speaking with a mental health professional can grant you specifics, but these are the most common issues that warrant the use of an ESA.
When you think of support animals, dogs will most likely come to mind, and with good reason. ESA dog training is a more widely used method then say, cat training. Dogs are very receptive to training methods, which makes them the most commonly used. An ESA can provide legitimate emotional support, and due to their specialized training are equipped to help you manage your symptoms.
The type of training for depression, bipolar, or PTSD animals is thorough, and due to the animals natural sense of intuition, can serve to give the owner a sense of purpose, and a companion to care for. Having an animal can help take away the stress and give you something else to focus on, in addition to helping you navigate the day to day, and manage symptoms when the appear. For instance, an individual with autism may benefit from having an animal during a meltdown caused by over stimulation. The animal would have been specially trained on how to act during these episodes, and can serve to ground the individual and calm them down.
Depression, bipolar and ptsd animals, can assist you immeasurably. In fact, regardless of the mental issue you are living with, a specially trained ESA could benefit you. Speak to your mental health professional and see your options for getting qualified. Additionally, if you aren’t a dog person, don’t worry, cats, rabbits, ferrets, even birds, can serve as emotional support animals, depending on your needs. (And that’s just to name a few.) See about your options, and take the first step to getting the support you need.
