Emotional Support Animal and the Corona virus
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To err is human — to forgive, canine.
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This virus has caught our attention and raised more anxiety or fears and caught us somewhat off guard. I want to explore why we have anxiety and 4 things you can do today to alleviate it, including getting an emotional support animal and the Corona virus.
As a Mental Health Professional for 30 years, I understand the rising fear from a virus, without a vaccination or pharmaceutical medication to treat it, No Medical way to prevent it and increased economic and life stressors associated with it. But, let’s look at ways to tame the anxiety together.
Why do we have anxiety or fear? All our emotions have a rational, logical purpose; to give us information to use to assess a threat AND get prepared accordingly. That sounds logical, then why do I continue to have anxiety once I assess the threat and get prepared. Because we don’t change the underlying thought associated with that emotion, we stay in the emotion.
Because your brain is wired to keep you alive, not thrive, but survive by protecting you. Unless you have figured out ways to calm the survival part of your brain and change the thought associated with that emotion, it will keep, the “what ifs”, or the constant never ending loop of anxiety going to protect you, with cautionary worries of anxiety. But from what, if you are prepared and assessed that the risk is low?
If your brain response is from what I consider a brain injury from a trauma, that puts your brain into the survival mode to protect you with the fight, flight or freeze response, from an emotional traumatic event where you feared for your life or the imminent threat to someone you love, or serious bodily harm. This is the 1st requirement for a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Where the fear elicits the lower part of your brain to go into survival mode and creates anxiety around almost every unknown situation to protect you.
If not treated, it can create trust issues, depression or changes in your lifestyle that can creep up on you until you don’t leave the house. You can try to rationalize it away or avoid dealing with it or the emotions associated with it. Avoidance is also one of the symptoms of PTSD. No wonder getting treatment is so hard! We think it is easier to just avoid it. We think it will hurt to deal with it. But, there are the clues, We think…it will…hurt, change that thought to a more reassuring one.
PTSD is usually associated with war, a physical assault, abuse or severe emotional abuse or neglect. But, what about the ever-increasing mass shootings, school shootings and their families rushing to the scene, not knowing, if it is their child or not. What about the increasing traumatic weather events of loss and starting over? Now we have a virus we are unsure of what will happen and financial effects and this is creating more anxiety on top of what could be other effects of previous traumas.
3 things you can do today to start to tame the survival part of your brain.
Get the facts
Get the facts on the virus from the CDC in your state of the federal CDC Fact sheet. Stay current, then shut off the TV.
Stop avoiding your emotions
They are just trying to give you information not, trying to kill you. It is like putting a happy face on your gas gauge, it doesn’t work for long.
- Listen to what Your emotions are telling you, so that you can use the higher part of your brain to change your thoughts associated with the emotion, to not just rationalize the fear away, but calm and reassure it.
- FEEL the Reassurance and calming of the fear by using the facts, or logic to recognize, then change the thought associated with that emotion- UNTIL THE LOWER PART OF YOUR BRAIN FEELS THE REASSURANCE or CALMING.
- This is not a fake it until you make it. The lower part of your brain is built to protect you. It can’t be fooled, with an affirmation.
- You have to mean it and feel it. THIS IS THE KEY THAT NO ONE HAS TOLD YOU ABOUT. This is why people don’t change, it is work to figure this out and make the changes required to your thoughts. Think of it like changing a thought habit. You have used that worry thought how many times to make it a habit. If you created that thought you can rethink it to get a different result.
- Change your thought to grateful or calming thoughts, that you truly believe about the situations. (This is the work). Write the calming thought on your hand, or sticky notes in front of you, to remember the new thought that works or until you find the ones that really set you up to feel true reassurance and calm. Then keep practicing this new thought and feeling until it is your new habit. Now, you can use this to benefit and calm the lower brain. This is what it wants, reassurance that you can handle this or it will take over again.
- Get a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) App that can help you with this process. CBT has been proven to be one of the most effective therapies for anxiety and depression, by choosing more effective coping thoughts that work to calm or reassure you. You understand that you are in control of your own thoughts once you start listening to your emotional guidance system within you designed exactly for this purpose and you feel the resulting reduction in anxiety you will keep practicing.
- Get Professional help-If you can’t change your old lower brain, thought habits yourself-On the back of your health insurance card is an 800 number for the providers covered to help pay the cost of therapy. For therapy ask for a therapist or counselor or ask for a Doctor if you want medication. Ask for a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist or someone who gets results for anxiety or PTSD and can help you starting in 3 sessions. After 3 sessions, you can tell if it is the right therapist or ask for another one. Sometimes you have to try several to find the right fit. But, expect results to relieve anxiety, by you learning techniques you can use in your everyday life. You can’t expect the therapist to do this FOR YOU. You need to practice to change this thought pattern.
Get a dog or pet the dog you have.
- Pet your dog- Lowers anxiety and stress hormone cortisol. One study found that just 10 minutes of interacting with cats or dogs produce a significant reduction in Cortisol in students. Cortisol is a major stress hormone and cats and dogs had a significant reduction in cortisol. Just 10 minutes of interacting with cats and dogs produced a significant reduction in students' cortisol, a major stress hormone. College is stressful. ... "Students in our study that interacted with cats and dogs had a significant reduction in cortisol, a major stress hormone." Jul 15, 2019 Article for the ScienceDaily
- Boost your immune- Existing research shows that dogs and their owners share much of the same gut bacteria over time. In addition, some studies have shown that dogs enhance immune functioning in children, reducing the risk for immune disorders, such as asthma and allergies. “We think dogs might work as probiotics to enhance the health of the bacteria that live in our guts. These bacteria, or ‘microbiota,’ are increasingly recognized as playing an essential role in our mental and physical health, especially as we age,” said Dr. Charles Raison, principal investigator for the study and a UA professor of psychiatry in the College of Medicine.
- Reduce stress- There’s a reason therapy dogs are so effective: Spending just a few minutes with a pet can lower anxiety and blood pressure, and increase levels of serotonin and dopamine, two neurochemicals that play big roles in calm and wellbeing. People performing stressful tasks do better when there’s a dog around, too, and studies show dogs ease tension both at the office and between married couples.
- Stave off depression- It’s widely believed that dog owners are less prone to depression than the dog-less, largely because they seem to help in so many other areas of health and wellbeing. The truth is somewhat more complicated. Though there’s evidence that certain dog owners—including isolated elderly women and HIV-positive men—suffer less from depression than those without pets.
- Add meaning and purpose to life-It can be difficult to find structure and routines and lower stress and add meaning to the day. Dogs can insist on that. Dogs help prevent loneliness and isolation, which is key in staving off cognitive decline and disease. It helps to not just focus on our needs and gives us a reason to really get up in the morning.
- Service dogs are known to benefit people with everything from traumatic brain injury to autism to rheumatoid arthritis, increasing mobility and promoting independence covered under the ADA.
- Get your dog certified as an Emotional Support Animal that are known to help calm and reassure from daily functioning affected by anxiety, stress or loss. And can be certified by a licensed mental health professional and receive a letter to allow you to have their animal on a plane and in “No Pet” housing with no fees under 2 federal laws. Alzheimer’s patients are soothed by dogs, whose companionship also seems to mitigate emotional flare-ups and aggression.
- Psychiatric Service Dogs are trained to recognize and respond to an emotional crisis or wounds of war with PTSD symptoms, anxiety or depression. They can be certified if they recognize and respond to Psychiatric symptoms such as PTSD, Panic Attacks limiting life. ADA law gives rights for taking your dog in public places, air travel and housing and more.
Conclusion:
If you want more information on how your dog can become an Emotional Support Animal or a Psychiatric Service Dog you can go to www.esapros.com or call Next Generation Psychology at 760-485-6784.
Dog can Possibly help to calm your nerves as you put into perspective that 80% of the cases of the Coronavirus are mild. And if having a dog wasn’t a good reason before, maybe it is now.
Learn some relaxing thoughts, take your dog for a walk and find 5 things that are good about your world and this day.
If you want more information on how your dog can become an Emotional Support Animal or a Psychiatric Service Dog to go where you go, get more information at www.esapros.com or call Next Generation Psychology at 760-485-6784.
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