People often use the words service animal and emotional support animal interchangeably, but these two are used for entirely different purposes. A service animal is trained to help people with certain disabilities in carrying out one of the major life activities like visual impairments, seizure disorders, mental illnesses, diabetes etc. On the other hand, emotional support animals provide therapeutic benefits to their owners through affection and companionship. ESAs work in conjunction with the primary therapy of the patient which needs proper certification and prescription by a licensed mental health professional (LMHP).
The option to use a service animal is given by the local governments under the American Disabilities Act(ADA). Service animals are trained according to the needs of the disabled person. For example, if you are diabetic, the service dog you have should be trained to detect your blood sugar whenever it is too low or too high. Since service animals are there to facilitate the person, they should not be intervening with their work and its better if they understand hand or/and verbal signals.
ESAs can be qualified to any person who has any disorder mentioned in the (Diagnostic and statistical Manual) DSM version V. Any patient can legally adopt an ESA if their mental health professional wants them to have an ESA in conjunction with the therapy. ESAs do not need any professional training, they should only be gentle, affectionate and friendly to strangers. Your emotional support animal must be very responsive to your emotions and commands to comfort you when you feel emotionally imbalanced. The ESA is there for stabilizing your overwhelming emotions.
The dogs that can serve as service animals are restricted to certain breeds. Four dog breeds demonstrate great success rate as service dogs that include Labrador retriever, Golden retriever, Labrador/Golden retriever mixes and German shepherds. Before beginning their service, they need two to four months of proper training.
As these two animals perform different work for their owners, their certification is also different. A service animal agency might help you find a dog or any other animal according to the disabilities of the person. Only a specifically trained animal can be a service animal, whereas any gentle and loving animal can be your ESA. Even the pet you already own can serve as your Emotional Support Animal (ESA). To qualify for an animal, you must be diagnosed with a disorder or disability by your doctor. On your doctor’s letterhead you must write your medical condition and state how can the animal be of benefit for you.
If you suffer from any problem, be it mental or physical, an animal can be of great help for you. But it is very important to understand the difference between the two. This will allow you to choose the correct animal for yourself. For example, a blind person would need a service dog to help him with daily activities like walking. On the other hand, an abuse victim who is depressed and feels shy to socialize and engage with people might need an Emotional support animal to comfort him/her. There are approximately forty qualifying disorders on the list of emotional support animal designation.
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