All throughout the United States and truly in many places in the world as well, mental illness is by and large prevalent. Even children are impacted by mental illness of all different kinds, with more than one eight of all kids who fall between the still very young ages of 2 and 8 having been diagnosed with some type of mental disorder, if not a behavioral or a developmental one.
Of course, mental illness is quite heavily prevalent among the adult populations in this country as well. Anxiety disorders are by and large the most common, impacting the lives of up to 40 million adults on a nationwide scale. After all, there are many different anxiety disorders that one could experience. Social anxiety disorder is particularly common, as too are conditions like panic disorder and OCD. In fact, someone who has a social anxiety disorder might not even know, at least at first, that they have one. But just like any other anxiety disorder or really any other mental illness, social anxiety disorder is something that can be quite debilitating indeed, no questions asked.
And aside from the anxiety disorder like the average social anxiety disorder, conditions like depression are also commonplace. In fact, only anxiety disorders are more common than depression, which can impact the lives of people all over the country and even all over the world as a whole. PTSD is another common mental illness, with more than seven and a half million people diagnosed. All in all, it is really not surprising to see that more than one quarter of this country’s population alone suffers from at least one type of mental illness, if not even more than one for that matter.
For many people with mental illnesses such as that of PTSD or a social anxiety disorder, animals have long been a comfort. After all, animals provide the unconditional love and support that so many of us are searching for. In addition to this, animals of certain kinds can even pick up on various aspects of our mental illnesses and can help us to deal with things like a PTSD flashback or a panic attack. Many people, especially those with mental illness, have a close attachment to their animals – after all, more than 40% of the dog owning population actually let their dogs sleep in bed with them.
Emotional support animals are fast growing among the mentally ill community. From those with a social anxiety disorder to those who have been diagnosed with clinical depression, a service dog for social disorder and beyond can help to manage the mental illness in question on a day to day basis. And an emotional support animal like PTSD animals are ideal for those who are deeply attached to these animals, as they are legally mandated to be offered housing even in buildings where otherwise animals would not be allowed – or a security deposit would be necessary. After all, not everyone who needs an emotional support animal for their social anxiety disorder or other such mental illness will always be able to afford the pet deposit that some housing facilities might offer.
You can also take an emotional support animal on a plane, something that many people expressly get an emotional support animal for. After all, a fear of flying is not uncommon and for some people it can truly become debilitating. Therefore, it is not uncommon for an emotional support animal to come along with them on the plane, as this is one of the rights of ESA owners throughout the country. Even just having a small dog or cat aboard the plane can truly make a world of different for so many different people. From the service dog for social anxiety disorder to service animals for depression, ESA animals have become essential here in the United States, and effective at treating mental health in many different ways and for many different conditions. If you are struggling with some kind of mental illness, you might, for instance, now consider a pet like a therapy cat for depression, as having a pet can be hugely therapeutic.