# WHAT IS AN EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL PROGRAM?

- Link: https://www.alquimedez.com/what-is-an-emotional-support-animal-program
- Published: 2021-09-13T06:27:47+00:00
- Author: alquimedezhemo

Sometimes a person in sheer distress or chronic pain may need some emotional support
and affection as well apart from the occupational and physical therapist’s help.
In order to heal faster and stay healthier mentally and physically, an individual
should be less aggressive and distressed. Studies show that people with depression
took typically longer to heal and those with confrontational responses to stress
were not healthy. So, the sum and substance is that there is a connection between
the mind and body and how the state of one can so vividly affect the other.

An emotional support animal program is a kind of mental therapy where an assistive
animal provides comfort in the form of companionship and affection to an individual
suffering from a mental or emotional issue. Your emotional support animal is not
charged with the task of helping you with specific activities like service animals.
Service animals are different from emotional support animals. A physically disabled
or ill person might need a service dog to help him out in doing certain physical
activities.

According to the federal law, emotion support animals are neither required to have
any specific training nor are they restricted to a specific specie.

The emotional support animal program is considered to be mandatory, especially at
children’s hospital. It is a session where an animal assisted therapy coordinator
visits every patient with an affectionate animal that instantly lightens up their
mood. There are innumerable and noticeable benefits of conducting such programs.
Some are – it lowers anxiety, reduces pain, enhances social engagement and interaction,
reduces depression, normalizes heart rate and blood pressure, reduces stress and
pain, etc.

Though ESAs are like regular pets that please you on a daily basis, however, an 
ESA must be prescribed by a licensed mental health professional like a psychiatrist,
psychologist or a counsellor.

In order to speak in a more intellectual way, science also backs therapy by ESAs.
Studies show that by looking into your dog’s eyes, your dopamine (a neurotransmitter
associated with the feeling of pleasure) is boosted, which means that an animal 
can help you with depression and also increase your capacity of affection for others.
So in order to alleviate loneliness, you can have a gentle pet around you that would
make you feel loved.

ESAs are very helpful for people who feel anxious in airplanes. An ESA can make 
travel more convenient, anyone who is anxious of travelling in planes might get 
busy in taking care of their ESA instead of becoming overwhelmed by the fear of 
airplanes.

The major cause of depression and distress is that people hardly find someone who
loves them unconditionally whereas an ESA gives you that feeling of being loved 
and connectedness if you otherwise feel alone.

Whatever treatment you think is suitable for you, having an ESA in conjunction with
it might help facilitate the procedure and improve the symptoms too. A person with
a diagnosis cannot regulate everyday routine tasks without external support. Your
ESA could be your stabilizer for intense emotions when your feelings are dysregulated.

ESA is just like a supportive friend or family member and the people who rely on
emotional support animal programs should be treated with respect and empathy.