Although it is not clear, possibly in the late 1990's, when the first Psychiatric Service Animal (i.e. dog) came to play! Nevertheless these service animals are taught to assist those with severe mental disabilities.
The various types of conditions are but not limited to: Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar (a.k.a. Manic Depression Disorder), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Anxiety Disorder (a.k.a. Panic Attack Disorder), Autism, Severe Depression and Schizophrenia.
These individuals carry with them a risk of losing consciousness due to hyperventilation. Therefore Psychiatric Service Animals are taught to relentlessly wake their handler by nipping, licking, or even heavy breathing in the individuals face or ear. They also are taught to retrieve items, being focused on their handlers due to memory loss, brace - counter-balancing due to dizziness and or weakness from medication side effects, find keys and phones as well as other items and call 911 in case of an emergency! They also are taught to interrupt repetitive behaviours while trying to keep the individual calm in stressful situations that maybe normal for others. (e g paranoia or hallucinations). The list goes on as many tasks are similar to other types of Service Animals! This depends on an individuals needs.
These wonderful Animals are also considered as a Medical Alert/Respond Animal due to the similarity of their tasks.
In today society there are other types of Psychiatric animals (i.e cats, monkeys, etc.) that provides the same benefits and assistance to individuals with mental disabilities (i e.invisible disabilities).
The various types of conditions are but not limited to: Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar (a.k.a. Manic Depression Disorder), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Anxiety Disorder (a.k.a. Panic Attack Disorder), Autism, Severe Depression and Schizophrenia.
These individuals carry with them a risk of losing consciousness due to hyperventilation. Therefore Psychiatric Service Animals are taught to relentlessly wake their handler by nipping, licking, or even heavy breathing in the individuals face or ear. They also are taught to retrieve items, being focused on their handlers due to memory loss, brace - counter-balancing due to dizziness and or weakness from medication side effects, find keys and phones as well as other items and call 911 in case of an emergency! They also are taught to interrupt repetitive behaviours while trying to keep the individual calm in stressful situations that maybe normal for others. (e g paranoia or hallucinations). The list goes on as many tasks are similar to other types of Service Animals! This depends on an individuals needs.
These wonderful Animals are also considered as a Medical Alert/Respond Animal due to the similarity of their tasks.
In today society there are other types of Psychiatric animals (i.e cats, monkeys, etc.) that provides the same benefits and assistance to individuals with mental disabilities (i e.invisible disabilities).