Category: Emotional Support Animal

Major Mental Health Benefits of an ESA

Individuals who live with emotional support animals can tell you how much fun and unconditional love they receive from their animals. Pets can boost mood and improve overall health. So, mental health professionals prescribe animal-assisted therapy to patients with anxiety, depression, etc.

In the United States, you can legally live or fly with your emotional support animal under federal regulations. However, to get these benefits, you must have an ESA letter NY signed by a therapist.

Health Benefits of an Emotional Support Animal

Pet owners are aware of the immediate happiness they receive by spending time with their support animals. There’s scientific evidence that animals can help individuals live longer.

Emotional support animals provide love and comfort to their handlers, thus helping them alleviate a wide range of mental illnesses. So, mental health practitioners are recommending their patients to use pet therapy for various conditions, such as-

Depression
General Anxiety Disorder
Stress-induced situations
PTSD
Agoraphobia
Aerophobia

Having a pet at home can help you decrease the stress levels and increase the levels of oxytocin, the feel-good hormones. Moreover, according to the Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, ESAs helped with a reduction of 82 percent in PTSD symptoms in a week.

Caring for an emotional support animal makes you more active, and helps you lower blood pressure levels. Thus, patients with high blood pressure can benefit from pet therapy.

Moreover, animals can help patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. According to the research at the University of California at Davis, Alzheimer’s patients have fewer anxious outbursts and less stress when they have pets at home.

ESAs Can Help You Adopt Healthy Lifestyle Habits

Emotional support animals help their handlers adopt many healthy lifestyle habits, such as-

Increase Physical Activity

Taking out your support animal for a walk is a fun and rewarding experience. This way, you can easily fit exercise into your daily routine. Medical studies have reported that pet owners are more likely to meet their daily exercising requirements. Regular exercise can help pets promote wellness as well.

Improve Social Interaction

Pets can help you improve your social interaction, thus boosting mental health. Imagine walking with your dog in the street, people are more likely to talk to you. In fact, individuals like opening up when it comes to emotional support animals. However, this usually doesn’t happen when you are moving alone in the street.

Provide Structure

If you have a pet at home, you need to feed and exercise it regularly. This will automatically help you make a daily routine. You will feel more organized and happy. As a result, you will be able to deal with stress, anxiety, depression, etc. Thus, no matter how depressed or anxious you are, the moment you meet your dog, all your tensions will go away.

Fly/Live With Your ESA Legally

Under the Air Carrier Access Act, you can fly with your emotional support animal without paying extra pet travel fees. And, under the Fair Housing Act, you can live with your ESA without paying extra pet deposits. However, you must have an ESA letter showing that you are receiving emotional support from your pet.

Using telemedicine technology, you can apply for your ESA letter NY online in three simple steps-

Sign up for an account online
See a therapist through the HIPAA-compliant software
Receive ESA letter in PDF format through the email

Key Takeaways

Pets have therapeutic properties and can help patients with anxiety, depression, PTSD, etc. Studies show that living with emotional support animals can boost mood, sleep, and focus. Pets can improve your physical activity, lower blood pressure levels, and stress levels. Unlike medications, pet therapy provides natural results and doesn’t cause any side-effects.

In the United States, patients with mental health conditions can use animal-assisted therapy for promoting wellness. Under the federal laws, you can fly or live with your emotional support animal without paying extra dollars. For that, you need a licensed mental health professional’s recommendation.

Talk to a therapist online to get your ESA letter NY without leaving your home today.

Emotional Support Animal

Get Familiar With These Top Facts About ESAs

We all love our pets unconditionally! Sometimes I feel, these creatures are on Earth to bring joy and happiness to our lives. And in return, all they ask for is our love, care, and affection. You must have heard about emotional support animals or ESAs. But are you familiar with what emotional support animal letter (ESA letter) is? ESA doctors in NY can help you get your ESA letter if you qualify for one. But there are a lot of things that people are confused about when it comes to emotional support animals.

Well, you can clear all your confusions by learning the most common facts about emotional support animals. Even if you are familiar with the basics of ESAs, there are plenty of things that you might not be familiar with. ESAs can help you with a variety of problems including ADHD, stress, anxiety, panic attacks, and many more. So, here are the top things that you probably didn’t know about emotional support animals.

Fact 1. You Need an ESA Letter From a Licensed Therapist

Many people still are not familiar with the fact that emotional support animals are part of a licensing process. If you want to qualify, a mental health professional has to submit a letter that includes your condition. The letter should also include a diagnosis that’s defined in DSM V. There are many conditions that can qualify you to get an emotional support animal. These include depression, PTSD, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and many more.

Fact 2. You Can Choose Any Kind of Animal to be Your Emotional Support Animal

What animals come to your mind when you hear about emotional support animals? A dog, probably, or a cat maybe. While dogs and cats are the most popular choices for emotional support animals, they are not the only kind of animals that can become an ESA. But the animal should be of a reasonable size and temperament.

Some of the best choices for emotional support animals, other than dogs and cats include – birds, hamsters, rabbits, hedgehogs, pigs, and more. The only thing that you have to take care of is that your animal is of reasonable size and temperament for this job. There are certain reasonable limits when it comes to what kind of animals can become ESAs. For instance, you may find it challenging to make a scorpion or a tarantula your emotional support animal.

Fact 3. Emotional Support Animals Are Just a Part of a Treatment Plan

Emotional support animals help their owners in progressing in moving forward with their lives. But, these beautiful animals are not a cure-all. While they will surely provide you critical comfort and support when you need them, they are not a cure-all. These animals are there for therapy. And similar to medication, therapy is also part of a larger psychological treatment plan.

For many people, emotional support animals can even become more effective than medication. This is especially true for people dealing with depression, anxiety, or other mental health issues. Recovering from some complex psychological illness can be intense, and these animals can help you get through it.

Fact 4. The Fair Housing Act

If you have an emotional support animal letter, you can even live in a house that has a “no pets” policy. This is because of the Fair Housing Act that allows anyone with an ESA letter to live with their ESA. The Fair Housing Act does not allow limiting housing based on various factors. These include race, national origin, color, and disability. Thanks to that last provision, a landlord can not discriminate against anyone due to a mental disability.

Fact 5. ESAs And Service Animals Are Not The Same

This is one of the biggest confusion that people have. You must understand that ESAs are different from service animals. ESAs do not require any special training, while service animals get special training for their jobs. These animals are there for emotional comfort and support but are not classified as service animals.

Emotional Support Animal

Does your Condition Qualify for an Emotional Support Animal?

Do you have any pets? If yes, you know how satisfying their companionship can be for someone. Be it a cat, a dog, or any other animal, the unconditional love and affection they shower you with are just unmatched. You are always happy around them and they make your life so easy going. Indeed, there’s nothing better than having the loyal companionship of a pet with you.

But did you know your pet can also work as a therapist?

I’m not joking. It’s true. The companionship of your pet can actually help you treat many mental disorders. The pets that help you treat your disorder are called Emotional Support Animals. They are there to provide you with all the love and support that you need and thus help you fight your condition. You just need an ESA letter recommended by a licensed mental health professional to get a pet for your emotional support.

But there are some predefined conditions that qualify you for an ESA. So if you are thinking of getting one, it’s important to know if you qualify for it or not.

Let’s find out.

Anxiety

Anxiety has become very common nowadays. People are always fearful of not living up to their full potential. And this dissatisfaction is causing uncontrolled thoughts in their minds making them over-anxious. Therefore, therapists suggest an ESA for the people who are suffering from an anxiety disorder. The animal distracts the person off the topic and engages him in any other activity such as playing with him or taking him for a walk.

A panic attack is also caused by anxiety disorder due to the person feeling extreme terror, even when there is no real danger. And as you can take your ESA almost anywhere, it can help you with this condition too.

Depression

Depressed people usually seem frustrated and broken. They don’t have a purpose in life. For them, winning is for others. They feel everyone is better and above them.

Mental health professionals claim that an ESA can help alleviate the pain of a depressed person. Pet therapy has always been effective in depression. A pet can give a purpose to the person suffering from depression. The love and support of an ESA can help the person take the first step toward healing.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

This is a condition in which people feel extremely stressed after having a tough time in their life. In the U.S. alone, more than 7.5 million people are suffering from PTSD. A pet can easily keep the person off-topic and thus help them relax. Therefore, professionals recommend an ESA for the people suffering from the condition.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Socializing isn’t for everyone. Some people really like being alone. They can’t talk to people in a social setting and feel really overwhelmed when they have to. This type of condition is called social anxiety disorder.

Going to a social gathering with an ESA can make it much less painful as you are with someone who can make you comfortable. Social anxiety can be cured by having a pet by your side at any social event. If you feel uncomfortable, you can play with your ESA for some time and you’ll feel relaxed.

Phobias

Many people suffer from different phobias. The fear might be of heights or water, or any other thing. Your pet can really help you in an unwanted situation. If you come across something which you fear, you may become very uncomfortable. Your heart rate may rise and you may feel sweaty sometimes. But if you have a pet with you, it can help you ease your stress and make you feel relaxed.

For instance, if you are afraid of heights but you need to fly somewhere, you can take your ESA with you. This will keep a check on your nervousness.

So these were the conditions that can qualify you for an ESA. If you have one of these, apply for an ESA letter now.