Here in the United States, anxiety disorders, depression, and a whole host of other mental illnesses are quite prevalent indeed. As a matter of fact, more than one quarter of the American population – about 26% of it, to be just a bit more exact – has been diagnosed with at least one form of mental illness. In addition to this, many people will actually end up being diagnosed with more than one mental illness over the course of their lives. Therefore, the impact that mental illness can and has had on our societies is most certainly not one that should be overlooked by any means, to say the very least.
First, let’s take a look at the vast types of mental illness that are diagnosed in today’s world. Anxiety disorders are by and large the most common, impacting the lives of up to 40 million people throughout this one country alone, let alone anywhere else in the world as a whole. Anxiety disorders encompass a number of disorders that fall underneath the broader heading, including everything from social anxiety disorder to obsessive compulsive disorder. Generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorders also fall underneath this heading.
In addition to anxiety disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, more commonly known just as PTSD, can also be seen throughout the country. At the current date, more than seven and a half million people currently living throughout the United States have been diagnosed with PTSD. This disorder typically originates after the patient has lived through some type of traumatic event, though the actual event that triggered this trauma and disorder will vary quite dramatically from person to person, to say the very least.
Fortunately, while mental illness can most certainly be difficult to live with, there are a number of different ways in which it is able to be treated. Regular therapy is advised for just about anyone who has mental illness, as therapy can help to get to the root of the problem and can even help to change the ways in which we think. For many people, therapy is life changing. So too can be medications. Getting on a medication designed to treat your mental illness can have quite the dramatic and drastic effect. In fact, it can even change your perspective and allow you to make more progress in other areas of treatment for your particular disorder.
Things like an emotional support animal have also been showing promise, with getting a service dog for social anxiety or another mental illness like PTSD becoming ever more commonplace. After all, the service dog for social anxiety is also likely to be a beloved part of the family. Here in the United States, dogs are already well loved, with nearly half of all households owning at least one dog, if not multiple. In total, there are actually around 90 million dogs owned by families just here in the United States alone.
But what exactly is the role of the service dog for social anxiety? Simply put, a service dog for social anxiety or even pet therapy for depression or a mixed breed ESA for any other mental illness is there to provide comfort to the patient in question. A service dog for social anxiety can make it easier for the person in question to bear difficult social situations. For a person who is perhaps phobic of being in large crowds, a service dog for social anxiety can actually end up making a world of difference.
And though the service dog for social anxiety is on the rise, the therapy cat for depression and other mental illnesses is also still quite common. Ultimately, just having an animal to come home to has been seen to improve overall health in nearly three quarters of study participants. And improving your overall mental health is something that is very much likely to improve your overall physical health at the end of the day. In fact, prioritizing mental health should be just as important as prioritizing the health of your whole body, as your mental health will have a direct impact on it. Something like a service dog for social anxiety can help you to do this.
