Service dog? (ptsd, did)

[pacificblue]

I have been thinking lately how much a service dog would help me. I relied on my dogs while growing up for support. I have little kids inside me (DID) who have finally found someone safe to have that "attachment" relationship with, and both those and the terror based ones are doing better. But they grieve being away from her for the rest of the week when we aren't in therapy.

So, I started thinking about a service dog. I have read that they can be great for these things. What worries me mostly is what other people will think - I know that sounds ridiculous, but I clearly have no physical disability, so how will people understand?

I watched "My Sister's Keeper" last night. Of course, it's a movie, but when he told people his dog was a service dog (for epilepsy - so also an "invisible" disability as it were) nobody asked for details.

I have a child in school and another in preschool - what would the other mums, my kids friends families, think? Would the school think I was crazy? If my dad comes to Australia again to visit us (he was the non-offending parent as it were), how will I explain to him? He endured 28 years of being married to my mother (who, now that I understand DID, I believe had DID as well - it explains a lot about her behaviour) and despises anything to do with mental health professionals or therapies. All that resulted in in the 80s and 90s when I was a kid was my mother going through rehab, etc, for prescription drug addiction and a never ending list of failed therapies.

I know it is stupid not to try something which could really help so much, but these things are valid concerns I think. In particular with regards to my children's friends families.

I frequently find myself struggling with derealisation and simply not being able to stay present, anxiety, etc, and believe a dog who was a constant companion would be very helpful for that. I am not sure how much it would bring me out of it - but even if I was safe in that dissociative zone with the dog keeping everyone feeling safe, that would be fine. I could continue to function and eventually end up less dissociated I would imagine.

I was just wondering if anyone here has tried a service dog? And, if so, how did you get around these problems?

 

[Deaf Global Nomad]

Hi Pacificblue,

I have a service dog, originally trained as a Hearing Dog and a Service Dog (because of a balance disorder also connected to the inner ear). His name is Bright. He is a golden retriever. He is now 9 years old. Although he is primarily trained for those jobs, he is an absolutely wonderful PTSD dog. I knew he would be extremely helpful for the original tasks, but he made such an incredible difference from the first day for the isolation terror of crowds.

I've had C-PTSD and Dissociative Disorder - NOS all my life. My parents got me a sweet puppy when I was an infant as my companion and baby sitter. We were attached at the hip until I had to put him to sleep on June 30, 1999, at 5:55 PM. It took me until 2003 until I was ready to let another dog into my life. In the meantime I had started a Ph.D. program and was able to work as hard as I needed, which included reading every research article that was cited in the 450 articles in the basic courses. That meant staying awake all night from Sunday through Thursday to complete my coursework, research, as well as prepare lectures and grade papers for the classes I taught. I love the work, but lack of sleep slowly but surely began breaking me down.

I got Bright on June 24, 2005, the summer during which I was teaching my favorite course: Research Methods. He was immediately attached to me and he followed me everywhere while I was working. Three days after I got him, it became clear that Bright was not going to sleep without me. By Aug 6, I had realized that I could not function at this pace anymore. What didn't help was that my advisor had switched my dissertation topic and I needed to have a literature review to hand in by Sept 15th. I knew I had no energy to do that in 6 weeks. I was scared to lose the advisor and my dream of becoming a full University Professor upon completion of my Ph.D. As my dream and my dog were what kept me alive throughout childhood, Bright's arrival was perfect-timing. At first Bright made me aware of my sleep-deprivation and actual need of sleep. I completely broke down when the course was finished. Thinking that I had now lost everything, but once again had a priceless dog in my life, I asked for help. A therapist helped me get through the summer and Fall until my advisor arrived home from her summer vacation. At that point she managed to screw my head on tight long enough to at least tell me that not everything was lost. I could go on medical leave.

I officially went on medical leave and over the next few years learned about lots of different services. I'm working very hard to get better and be able to function better, while still working on my dissertation when I can. I have been able to start work on all the traumas I had experienced.

Sorry for the long story. However, in all of this time I have some extreme shifts in how I view the world. I had suicidal ideation for most of the time, suicidal plan for half of that, and ready to try seriously 3 distinct times, but I had to take Bright to safety at my advisor's house to play with his best friend, a female golden retriever. Each time the advisor came in while I wrote my goodbye note or was leaving. She helped by contacting professionals.

As far as how service dogs are seen, here in the US it is not a problem. There are so many people with hidden disabilities with dogs: people with diabetes, people with autism, people with brain injuries, people with epilepsy, deaf people, and now for two years more and more people returning from Iraq with PTSD receive service dogs. Dogs tell you when they're hungry, thirsty, need to go outside, all of those helping a person with PTSD maintain a regular schedule. The support for going out is also wonderful. I freeze when someone touches me unexpectedly and can dissociate or wander off. Attached to my dog I won't just wander indefinitely. It works wonderfully.

I hope this helps somewhat. If you have more specific questions about Austrailia, try a search area for agencies who train service dogs for something similar or if you're lucky even identical. You might actually be able to talk to people with ptsd and with service dogs. Next best, try agencies in other countries or people in other countries.

I really hope that this helps.

Bright and Me

 

[Deaf Global Nomad]

Also look at books whether fiction or non-fiction who have a service dog in them. Try anything to have clear goals about why your dog can be trained to do and really help you.

 

[Grama-Herc]

I have been ''for'' service dogs when possible for ptsd people. But, I do suggest you get the usual service dog type, and have them wear their service dog vest when out in public. No one questions that. I embarrassed myself in a local store because a woman was in the meat department shopping with some small mutt type dog and I went to management to report her.. While the little dog was not what you expect a service dog to look like, it was indeed a certified service dog.

As far as what anyone else thinks, screw em!!! When I was in the hospital/therapy, they spent one entire day on "what to tell people" The biggest thing was"Don't Lie!" Simply say I'm experiencing some medical issues and I'm not ready to discuss them right now. I tried it and it works. I ran into someone who had not seen me in a long time and had hear I was in the hospital. They asked why, and I told them the "not now sentence" and it shut them right up.
In fact, I think anyone who does ask is rude and does not deserve an explanation.

Our/your medical issues is NO ONE'S BUSINESS