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.

Related- Top Facts About Emotional Support Animals You Should Learn

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

Related- Does Your Condition Qualify For an Emotional Support Animal?

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.