Would an SD help me?

[k94doglady]

I'm new to the forum and would like some advice. I have been diagnosed with PTSD, Agoraphobia and an Anxiety Disorder with panic attacks. I cannot go out in public alone. It terrifies me. I have panic attacks when I'm with someone. When I have an attack I have to have someone that can distract me to stop the attack. But the anxiety never goes away. I freeze if people get too close to me and can't handle very crowded areas. I start hyperventilating and getting nauseous. I have not gone out in public by myself in over 3 years. My therapist is unsure whether I will ever be able to function comfortably outside of my home. I'm hypervigilent and am always worried about what the people around em may do or say. Does anyone have any suggestions as to whether or not a PSD would help and if so what the dog could do to help. Thanks.

[Roxie]

Welcome and I'm happy you are here!!

At this point in your recovery,  I don't think a SD would be in your best interest or the dog's best interest.  I think you would have more success if that is your goal, to focus on therapy and get your behavioral responses to stimuli and triggers under reasonable control before adding a dog to your responsibilities. I'm definately not saying to not get one! But consider working with your therapist to stabilize yourself a bit more first (while you explore the world of SD's!) before you takee the leap.

One needs to have their disability managed and under fairly good control before trying to use a SD.

What is it that you envision a SD could do for you? Have you begun to look for programs that train SD's for your types of disability needs?

I used to use a PSD, but Sara retired 3 years ago and died this last June. My present SD's work is pretty much just Mobility and Alzheimer. I still use him for Schizophrenia needs, too.

Many people in SDC use dogs to assist with their mental illness disabilities - some are cross trained for additional service work.

I encourage you to as a lot of questins! Most people here are really outspoken and very experienced with SD's... all of us are willing to help where we can!!

Roxie

[k94doglady]

Thank you for the input. I'm not sure how the PSD could help. I'm trying to look at all the options at this point. The only thing that I do know for sure is that I'm tired of feeling like a prisoner in my home and tired of the overwhelming fear whenever I step out my door. (I'm rarely even in my own backyard for more than a few minutes). After 6 months of therapy (including meds) I haven't made a whole lot of progress. Right now I have 3 dogs (2 I've had for 5 years and the other is a 3 month old puppy that I've had for a few weeks). I used to have a German Shepherd that I took with me when I could. He had to be put down right after Christmas. I found that certain behaviours that he had helped to head off the panic attacks and that I was able to function in public settings with him. He was never a PSD (never could have been because he was way too social in public and couldn't leave food alone if his life depended on it...lol). I know that he was basically an ESA. I'm just trying to figure out if i can take my new puppy,who serves as an unofficial ESA and train her as a PSD or if I would even qualify for one. I know that it would be at least another 1 1/2 to 2 years before she would be ready to take the Service Access Test. When i got her I picked her out specifically for the temperament and intelligience that she has. She has the potential, just not sure if a PSD is right for me. My therapist has tried a couple of different approaches with me, including thought stopping and forcing myself to confront situations where I panic (such as going into Wal-Mart alone to do my shopping). With the thought stopping, my panic attacks render me incapable of even moving let alone remember to stop the thought cycle that is causing them and forcing myself to confront the situation brought on panic attacks so severe that I was throwing up. Any suggestions, even those without the help of a dog are greatly welcomed. I have 5 kids, 3 that live with us, (the other 2 live with their mom) and a husband and we pretty much can't have any family time outside of the house unless it's on a secluded trail because of me. I need to find a way to get my life back for them before they're all grown and it's too late. This has been going on for 5 years now and has been really bad for the last 3. Thank you again for the input, I really appreciate it.

[Amber]

It does sound like it would be good to get your problems better under control prior to working with a PSD.  I have a PSD who helps me with Bipolar II, but also with Social Anxiety (among a few other diagnoses).  To help with my social anxiety, she has started going places with me.  I've been working on having her press her head into my legs/lap/hand (legs if I'm standing, lap if I'm sitting and she is in front of me, hands otherwise) when I start to hold my breath or breath shallow (signs I'm starting to get anxious).  When she does this, it reminds me to take deep breaths and try to relax myself.  I can also use some skills I used in therapy to help calm me down and keep me from focusing on the anxiety and letting it totally distract me.  I've successfully sat in a classroom of 40-ish students without freaking out (that wouldn't have happened just a year ago).  Anyway, a PSD can help, but it can't do everything for you.  One really big thing you have to get over with a PSD and social anxiety is having people pay attention to you, access problems, etc.  People pay more attention to you when you have a dog.  I actually don't have as much of a problem with it because I feel fairly comfortable talking about Maigee.  The only time I have problems is if they ask what disability she is for...then I just say "She helps me with a disability" and try to leave it at that.

[Amber]

I hope that made sense, I'm having a bad day and am rather distracted.  If it didn't, please ask what I meant!

[Roxie]

First, one has to be legally disabled to qualify to use a SD. Many mental illness or behavioral health diagnoses are not considered disabilities - no matter how uncomfortable and difficult they are., and are temporary in nature.

Again, until you have made significant progress in therapy, I don't feel a dog would be of value to you. 6 months is hardly a drop in the bucket as far as time in mental illness recovery! Depending on history and diagnoses and motivation and therapist's style of therapy I'd say give it a year and a half or so.

I have been in therapy for about 40 years every 1-2 weeks, and I still have unresolved issues that are still a daunting challenge and scarey for me.

If you are planning on using your pup as a SD, please be very careful about it's socialization with your existing pets. If your dogs aren't well behaved and obedient, the pup can adopt their behaviors just by watching and copying. As you are only beginnning your interest in SD's, I would have some concern that you may not realize or understand the characteristics trainers of SD's look for in a SD candidate.

You might want to get your pup active in obedience classes as soon as it is old enough. If it works out that it has what it takes to be a SD: great! If not, you will have a very obedient companion!

Roxie

[Spectrum]

Welcome!

A good trick for figureing out what an SD could do for you is to think what a friendly robot could be programmed to do for you. This takes the emotional aspect out of it, and lets you focus on actual tasks.

[k94doglady]

Thank you for all of the helpful advice. Luckily bad behaviours in my other 2 dogs are not an issue as they are very well trained.And you're right, she is copying their behaviour, I was actually hoping she would. I don't plan on getting (or using my current puppy) a PSD for another 1 - 2 years at the very least. I just want to get all the info that I can and know exactly what I'm getting myself into if I do, eventually, make that decision. My first step is to continue my therapy and try to find a med that will help take the edge off of the anxiety. Thank you to all for being so open and helpful with this.

[BeBold]

  forcing myself to confront situations where I panic (such as going into Wal-Mart alone to do my shopping).

Hi K9,

I am new here as well with my main diagnosis being complex PTSD. I understand how easy it is to stay inside more and more and letting symptoms take over your life. (not saying that likes it's actually a choice, but sometimes, I don't try as hard as I could...I can tend to take the easy way out sometimes!) I have flashbacks, nightmares, dissociation events, anxiety, hypervigilance etc. all the main s/s.

I understand the wanting to figure out even some examples of what an PSD even can do for you. when I was considering it for myself, at the suggestion of my dr. and as something I could maybe do to "help myself" I was a little stymied as to how to even begin to conceive of things betting better, never mind how an animal could make things any better. I spent a lot of time on google searching even for just a few "examples" as my mind felt so dulled at time and I felt so hopeless, I wasn't sure even a robot could help me...Sometimes we just need to hear a few examples to get our own "juices flowing".

So, here are a couple of my examples  to give you hope that things can change. Some are "great side effects" of having a PSD - which fits more into the ESA range - and some are inherent behaviors for my animal or trained behaviors.

1. if I am having a nightmare, he wakes me by compulsively licking my hand until I am awake. (I have a small dog so turning on the light is not an option.)

2. Luca is very very alert. If we are out and about and there is something, anything, that is an unusual activity, he stops, looks in the direction of the noise or movement (esp helpful if coming home alone at night when it's dark and my anxiety can get thru the roof!) and will not budge until I let him know that I am ok, safe and see or hear the thing going on so that I am not startled. I never could have conceived of my hypervigilence being lessened because now I know I can relax and he will "stand guard" for me.

3. at night, I clearly have trouble making myself go to bed (some nights, like tonight, it's just not in the cards for me!) but other nights, I am just to afraid to lie down and turn out the lights. I close my eyes and they keep popping open to make sure nobody has come into my room - I live alone btw...so it's not a reality, it's a symptom. I never could have conceived of a situation where "knowing" that he is "standing guard" actually allows me to turn out the light, turn off the tv, feel him firmly against my abdomen, close my eyes and allow myself to drift off to sleep. I don't take sleep meds anymore. I don't take antianxiety meds at night any more. I have been told that this is common for soldiers returning from war. they can sleep if they know someone is "at sentry". Somehow, Luca is my sentry. I know, if there is something real going on that I need to know about, he will wake me. he will alert me. it lets me relax and sleep.

4. nights like tonight that i have no interest in sleep, he is right at my side. if I sit here on my laptop too long, he will get up and nudge me to either take him out, or present me with a toy to play fetch with him  or insist on being in my lap (and there is not room for him and the laptop!) or something to distract me from spending endless hours online or not moving from my chair while I just veg in front of the tv.

5. TV! Since I live alone, I always have the TV on for background noise. I've been told it's a PTSD thing. When there is a tragedy the media is focusing on - like a lot - I can't get away from it because I need to have the tv on. It becomes a terrible cycle for me. with Luca at my side - constantly - and interacting with me, I need much less TV. I can actually sit and read for a bit. which I have been unable to do. I can listen to music which was not enough before to keep me focused. I have even recently been able to get back into crafts. it's been a long time since I have been able to do much productive at all.

Now, I am quite clear, as a new person here just venturing into the water, I may hear from owners that this is all not appropriate use of a SD. There are more things I am not listing but this I know, my life is changing with Luca in my home. My life is totally changing. It can't get any better than that.   BTW, Are you on disability for your situation? have you looked into it? you need to have worked a certain amount of quarters to be eligible, but your symptoms certainly sound quite severe and disabling. I know people who had to quit working and then waited too long to be eligible for SSDI. Just a thought.

Hope this helped you to be able to start to think out of the box. Sometimes we have no idea that an animal, trained to perform these kinds of tasks, can change our lives until we hear how other's lives have been changed.   take good care, Be.

btw, "pet side effects" for me are I am now leaving my house at least 4 times a day and going for long walks. and well, the unconditional love of a dog is something that can't be underappreciated as well. Previously, I could go 4 or 5 days without even unlocking my door! My door gets unlocked every single day now. We also eat breakfast at the same time now. he is helping me get into a better routine. it's all good!   

But, you already have pets, some of these things you may already experience. Perhaps using your current pets for some of the more "great pet side effect" things I have mentioned would be a good start to begin to reduce your symptoms.

oh, and the quote above....yikes. Walmart is the worst place to begin to test your abilities to be in a store alone. don't set yourself up this way. I have very little trouble on good days being in stores and even then, walmart is a challenge. it's a challenge for many of my friends who DON'T have psych issues! 

[Magesteff]

Be, you are new here, but I think the convention of this forum is that people don't talk about specific tasks their dogs are trained for. At least not in the public areas. You could certainly have a PM discussion if K9 would welcome that interaction.

[Roxie]

small dog so turning on the light is not an option.)

I'm not an electrician.... but have an idea! A light bulb moment, so to speak!!!  (lol)

How about taking the lamp to an electrician or handyman and have it rewired to have a wide light switch on the floor (or on a bedside table fastened to a block of wood) you can operate with your foot, or the dog can turn it on with its paw or nose!! I can turn on my Xmas tree lights with a step on switch!

Roxie

[BeBold]

@Magesteff:  I knew that I was "stepping out of the water" when I went there but I also know, having read here for a few months before getting Luca, that I kept hearing "whatever a robot can do" and I didn't even know what a robot could do. Sometimes, we have symptoms that we have lived with for years and don't even know that it can get better.

Sometimes, I think we could all help each other by even letting each other know what is even possible if you "think out of the box". I have heard some things that local PSD's do for their owners that I would never have even dreamed was possible. Like a dog who "knows" when his owner is dissociated and prevents her from leaving the house. and he is NOT a large dog. who knew a dog could "see dissociation"? I've had therapists who didn't know when I was dissociated.    Since we can't pm here till we have over 50 postings, it will probably be a long time before I can interact privately, or else that is what I might have done.

What did help me was to read articles on PTSD and soldiers. PTSD is such a specific set of symptoms and sometimes, we don't even know they are symptoms anymore. We just have learned to live with them since we were very small children. For example, I didn't know that being in bed feeling really small was a fb for a survivor. Who knew?  I didn't even know how to 'describe it' to my treaters. I don't sleep...my bed feels too big. whatever.

I hope and assume if what I said is actually against rules, my post will just be removed and I am always ok with anything I do that is "wrong" being taken down and me being told what I did wrong so that I don't do it again. I did read the rules but...

lol about the electrical thoughts. yeah, I have a remote for tube lights as well. no way Luca could push it tho. a light popping on to bring me out of a nightmare might also scare the p out of me! lol.

[k94doglady]

Thank you for the advice. This week has been especially difficult for me. We've has a lot of snow and the kids have been out playing. That also means the neighbors have been out clearing their sidewalks and driveways. I've felt more trapped than ever. I've been afraid to even open the curtains much cuz of the fear that they're watching me. I've been trying to use those moments to work on obedience training with my puppy. Still having a hard time stopping the cycle before I get too wigged out. Knowing that someone understands what I'm going through and that they have learned to function gives me some hope.I have not worked in the last 4 years and have not really socialized with anyone other than my best friend and my family. So it's prolly been too lo9ng. I also have a hard time thinking of the fact that I'm so incapacitated that i can't work. I'm still having a hard time accepting this as a disability. My family isn't all that supportive of the idea. They tell me to grow up and get over it. I love how supportive everyone is here. Even when they disagree with something they're very compassionate about it. There have been a couple of other websites that I was on that I no longer visit because they could get quite mean and rude when they didn't agree with you. Thank you to all who have responded!

[Roxie]

They tell me to grow up and get over it.

I have heard that frequently in life... especially the get over it part.

No. I will not get over it. What happened to me should happen to no child or human. It was terrible. I will always remember what my brain allows me to remember about things that happened to me that took me 50 years to put into words and say them out loud to another person. There is no sense that can be made from the situations.

However!  I refuse to allow those memories to stop me from being all I want and choose to be.

I make a conscious choice to succeed and win.

Perhaps a way of twisting that statement I quoted might be to hear from it: "You've been struggling with these issues for a very long time, and I hear your frustration. How can I help you develop coping skills to manage this adversity?"


Roxie

[Magesteff]

They tell me to grow up and get over it.

I have heard that frequently in life... especially the get over it part.

Lots of people told me that all it takes is willpower  to get yourself up and moving. I say that particular coping strategy doesn't work for me. There are steps I have takesn, getting treatment, having pets - and yes, while I don't consider Max an ESA - The fact that I have to take him outside on walks has helped me a lot some days - I know I have to take him out to relieve himself at least 3 times a day (that's the minimum I set for myself), if I feel like it or not. I love Max and the other day when my scooter tipped over, one of the Apartment Complex personnel offered to take Max back to my apartment while we were waiting for the Paramedics to come pick me up off the ground _ I have a hard time getting up once I am on the ground, have ruptured disks in my back and I am severely overweight, Paramedics who are trained to llift so no one gets hurt (patient or paramedic). She said that while in the office getting the keys to take Max back to the apartment, he kept going over to the door and really wanted to come back to me. You can't pay a person for that kind of devotion. So I try to do what is needed for my pal.