- Moderator
- #157
Sideways
VIP Member
@lostforgottensoul - you asked a question that sparked a conversation. You seem to be reading criticism where I think the intention of responses was to simply generate a dialogue abot the situation.
No one said “You’re doing this wrong”. You were offered different perspectives to consider. I’m really not sure why you’ve become so defensive about it.
@joeylittle I think that it’s going to come down to the individual and their attitude, much like any recovery process.
For example, my nan recently broke her arm. She had it plastered, and put in a sling. After 6 weeks, the sling was removed (the plaster comes off at 8 weeks). That’s a defining moment in recovery - people tend to go one of 2 ways.
The first option? Is they embrace the fairly painful rehab exercises required to get their arm moving again. It’s painful, but long term, they have good prospects of recovering their range of motion and function.
The second option? Is they balk at the pain, and either don’t fully engage in the painful rehab, or worse, they go back to using the sling because it alleviates the pain. That’s a pretty common reaction. Not everyone engages with the painful stages of rehab. Some people adjust their life to living with their arm in a sling, because it’s less painful.
Having a SD? I think it can definitely make you more aware of your own symptoms. Much like the broken arm, some people are going to just become reliant on their dog, and not necessarily make the most of the opportunity to use it to project their recovery forward.
But that’s not going to be true for everyone. Some people can (and do) use having a dog alerting them as a stage of their recovery, moving themselves to the point where they either no longer need a SD, or at least become less reliant on their dog.
My dog makes it possible for me to do my grocery shopping without panic attacks or dissociative episodes. It’s up to me whether I use a SD to go grocery shopping for the rest of my life, or whether I use this as a stage in my recovery, with the ultimate goal being able to complete the task without my dog.
Some stragies for coping, like alerting when it’s medication time? I think are simply useful. Lots of people take medication each day, and it’s fairly normal for a person to have some kind of system in place to remind them, “It’s medication time”. My dad? Leaves his meds in the cereal box. That’s his system. A SD? Is just another system.
No one said “You’re doing this wrong”. You were offered different perspectives to consider. I’m really not sure why you’ve become so defensive about it.
@joeylittle I think that it’s going to come down to the individual and their attitude, much like any recovery process.
For example, my nan recently broke her arm. She had it plastered, and put in a sling. After 6 weeks, the sling was removed (the plaster comes off at 8 weeks). That’s a defining moment in recovery - people tend to go one of 2 ways.
The first option? Is they embrace the fairly painful rehab exercises required to get their arm moving again. It’s painful, but long term, they have good prospects of recovering their range of motion and function.
The second option? Is they balk at the pain, and either don’t fully engage in the painful rehab, or worse, they go back to using the sling because it alleviates the pain. That’s a pretty common reaction. Not everyone engages with the painful stages of rehab. Some people adjust their life to living with their arm in a sling, because it’s less painful.
Having a SD? I think it can definitely make you more aware of your own symptoms. Much like the broken arm, some people are going to just become reliant on their dog, and not necessarily make the most of the opportunity to use it to project their recovery forward.
But that’s not going to be true for everyone. Some people can (and do) use having a dog alerting them as a stage of their recovery, moving themselves to the point where they either no longer need a SD, or at least become less reliant on their dog.
My dog makes it possible for me to do my grocery shopping without panic attacks or dissociative episodes. It’s up to me whether I use a SD to go grocery shopping for the rest of my life, or whether I use this as a stage in my recovery, with the ultimate goal being able to complete the task without my dog.
Some stragies for coping, like alerting when it’s medication time? I think are simply useful. Lots of people take medication each day, and it’s fairly normal for a person to have some kind of system in place to remind them, “It’s medication time”. My dad? Leaves his meds in the cereal box. That’s his system. A SD? Is just another system.
