A Pet – or Emotional Support Animal – Can Help Alleviate Symptoms of Bipolar Depression

*Photo by Andrew S on Unsplash

Do you have a pet? If not, have you thought about adopting one?

Pets provide support and companionship. Most people see their pet as a family member.

In addition to the companionship a pet provides, they have shown they can reduce your blood pressure, pain level, depression, and bipolar depression (if you have bipolar disorder).

People have all kinds of pets of different types and sizes. Did you know there are different legally protected types of animals?

Have you heard of a service animal?

An emotional support animal (ESA)?

What about a therapy animal?

Let’s take a deeper look at the different designations. Shout out to Ohio University’s Online Master of Science in Nursing program for all the awesome information.

A Pet as a Service Animal

Service animals are generally dogs, and we group them into one of the following 5 categories:

• Guide
• Hearing/Signal
• Seizure Response
• Psychiatric
• SSI (sensory signal dogs or social signal dogs)

Someone specifically trained these service dogs to help their owner in specific situations. 

For example, we train psychiatric dogs to detect the beginning of an episode and provide support for their owner.

I recently met a young woman who introduced me to her service dog. She said her dog senses when she is about to have a seizure so she can prepare for it and alert those around her. Her dog also helps support her during an actual seizure.

We protect service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

A Pet as an Emotional Support Animal (ESA)

Emotional support animals are potty-trained (can you tell I’m a dad?) and taught to be well-behaved. They do not receive formal training like a service animal does. 

Emotional support animals are generally not allowed in restaurants, retail establishments, and other public facilities. They are even prohibited in some residential developments.

An exception can be made if an ESA is prohibited in a specific dwelling. In that case, the owner would need a prescription from a licensed medical professional to bring their ESA into that building.

Also, to legally designate your animal as an ESA, you need a legal prescription from a licensed mental health professional. 

The prescription must be written on the licensed mental health professional’s letterhead and contain the following:

• License type
• License number
• Issuing state

The prescription must state the individual is:

• the professional’s patient,
• being treated for a condition described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (version IV or V),
• limited in performing at least one major activity due to the disability, and
• prescribed the ESA as part of the treatment.

My Experience with Emotional Support Animals

When my family and I moved into our apartment, I let the property manager know we had a few pets and they were designated as emotional support animals. 

As I mentioned above, I had my psychiatrist fill out a prescription to authenticate our pets as emotional support animals. I submitted the paperwork to my property manager.

For our apartment complex, our pets have been termed “emotional support animals.” Based on the submitted and cleared paperwork by my manager’s office, along with the prescription filled out by my psychiatrist, I did not have to pay a pet deposit. In addition, I did not have to pay the monthly pet fee.

At the beginning of 2017, my family and I did some traveling. While on the road, we stayed at a hotel. I mentioned to the manager when we checked in that we had a dog. He asked, “Do you have an emotional support animal?” 

I explained our dog was an ESA, and the manager stated we did not need to pay their required daily animal fee.

Therapy Animal

Therapy animals help medical professionals, such as therapists, physical therapists, social workers, and counselors. You may have seen them roaming the halls with their owner or visiting patients in a hospital or other recovery facility.

Therapy animals do not have guaranteed access under any specific law.

Last Thoughts

If you are an animal lover, I highly recommend you look into adopting one (or more).

They have scientifically proven that pets can lower your blood pressure and lift your mood.

Living with bipolar disorder, I found the wonderful benefits of owning a few emotional support animals. I love having my pets around for companionship and cuddling, and they help me to maintain a routine.

Routine is a proven component to manage bipolar disorder. It has been shown to help those of us living with bipolar disorder. The daily feeding, watering, taking out, and cleaning up after a pet creates a routine, which, from my experience, I believe to be true.

You will have greater success in managing your bipolar disorder with a pet, as long as you are an animal lover. Just make sure your expectations are realistic.

If you are thinking about getting a pet, discuss it with your doctor or therapist. My pets brighten up my day and bring me joy. Just make sure that adopting a pet is within your budget. After all, they can get pretty expensive. Make sure you are aware of the costs and have reasonable expectations.

Think about it because a pet may be exactly what you need!