From a Press Release from the Silver Star Families of America and posted for the Board's discussion:

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These animals are trained to:



1. Accompany the veteran into stores, restaurants, buses, trains, air planes, work and any other public places that the vet may need to go.



2. Allow the veteran to remain calm by preventing people from crowding around him in public places by placing his or her self in front the vet thus providing a comfortable space for the vet.



3. Watching behind the veteran by calmly preventing anyone by rushing up behind him and surprising him. (The dog is never aggressive towards people but just provides a barrier and alerts the vet to people who may be approaching from behind).

4. Provide a reassuring presence for the vet by anticipating his needs both at home and outside in public.

http://www.silverstarfamilies.org/SERVICE_DOGS.htm

Link fixed:

http://www.silverstarfamilies.org/SERVICE_DOGS.html

I kind of chuckled at this part:

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SSFOA does not consider PTS(D) a Psychiatric disorder but the information contained here on service animals still applies.

 Quote: Alyssa Myracle

4. Provide a reassuring presence for the vet by anticipating his needs both at home and outside in public.

Well, I'd like to see how they operationalize that to train it.

Seems like a pretty tall order for a dog to be able to anticipate all the owner's needs...everywhere...all the time.

leih

Well there you go Will we had talked about this back in September.

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/209087/page/0/fpart/2

Time to get Fetz his Cape with the "Pet Me I'm Friendly" patch!

I figured it would be a matter of time for service/assistance dogs to be recognized as being able to help people with issues not just including physical disabilities or Seizure alerts. This does open up a whole avenue on using animals to make people with invisible life changing illness lives more livable.

I say about time!

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I say about time!

I agree 110%. I think dogs are able to mitigate psychological disabilities as well as physical ones. There are more than a few psychiatric service dogs out there and I know they make a big difference in peoples' lives. Sometimes the dog is the only reason a person can leave their house; sometimes it means the difference between working and not working.

I know veterans that use these dogs, and thank God for them (both the vets AND their dogs).

It's interesting to see the varying opinions on this issue.

Myself, I'm with Will.

I really think this is abuse of the system (returning Vets with "PTSD" are already abusing the crap out of the system as it is, so what's new?) I also find it interesting that the group that endorses the use of Service Dogs for PTSD-sufferers refuses to call the illness PTSD, because they don't like calling it a "disorder", and they don't call it a psychiatric problem.

They call it a "wound of war", and believe that PTSD sufferers should be eligable for award of the Purple Heart.

Maybe I should jump on the pity-party bandwagon and demand my Purple Heart. Hey Will, you wanna go halves on an order of Service Dog vests for Fetz and Danke?

I think the opinion differs depending on what side of the issue you have the most experience with. My sister is a therapist and I'm a counselor so we've seen people and service dogs from the perspective of mental health and the limits/benefits on life activities. Some people handle the ravages of war without needing help, some don't. Some handle trauma well and some don't. I don't see it any differently than a physiological problem: in fact, studies have shown that mental illness DOES physiologically impact the brain and neurological patterns. It's tough to argue with that.

I'm all for whatever helps each individual live their lives to the fullest within reason. If that means a well-trained dog, then GREAT. I'm disinclined to put limits on the fulfillment needs of another person just because I don't understand their needs personally.

If someone abuses the system like the person with the badly behaved dog from the other thread, then they need to be dealt with like anyone else who abuses ANY system. But I disagree with penalizing people with genuine need just because a few people out there are ***holes.

When we approach PTSD with the idea that it is a disability, we only HURT the Vets that have it.

That said, dogs are great, and mine helped me tremendously.
I'm sure Fetz is great "therapy" for Will as well.
I'd put money down that every Vet who owns a good dog finds tremendous comfort and support in their dog.

I just don't think that it translates to a need or a right to take a dog into public as a service dog.

 Quote: alyssa myracle

I also find it interesting that the group that endorses the use of Service Dogs for PTSD-sufferers refuses to call the illness PTSD, because they don't like calling it a "disorder", and they don't call it a psychiatric problem.

Maybe I should jump on the pity-party bandwagon and demand my Purple Heart. Hey Will, you wanna go halves on an order of Service Dog vests for Fetz and Danke?

I'm very surprised by your comments Alyssa especially someone who is a vet.

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pity-party

??? You have to be kidding? Comments like this are part of the problem and never any solution. I actually find that comment in very poor taste.

As for the group refusing to 'name' the illness/disorder whatever buzzword they want to insert. Good for them for not trying to increase the stigma that surrounds it. But it is what it is, even if you think it is a

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pity-party

.

Based on the little reading I've done, what Kristen said is correct - there are physical changes to the brain as a result of PTSD - for instance, my understanding is those w/PTSD have smaller hippocampuses (which regulates short-term memeory and something to do with spatial perception). However, that with proper treatment, this can be addressed.

That suggests to me that there is more to the disorder, however you want to term it, than simply not handling stress well. I agree that creating victims is never a good thing, but I'm not sure that recognizing PTSD can create a disability for some people is necessarily victimizing people. In some situations, it may be empowering b/c it allows people to address it.

I do know that with bipolar disorder, there are physical changes to the brain, and that the disorder is more than just depressive and hypomanic/manic episodes; it also affects memory, concentration, and focus long-term/permanently. Not PTSD but I'm just noting it b/c it does accord w/what Kristen was saying.