How Service Dogs Help in Treating Veterans' PTSD
Young Service Dog in Training (Courtesy: MobilityDog.org)
Did you know that at some point in their lives, about 7 percent of the general population will be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (also known as PTSD)?
Within the population of combat veterans, this number rises to between 10 and 31 percent. PTSD is associated with a litany of potential negative consequences:
Reckless and harmful (even deadly) behavior.
Suicide.
Sleeplessness; and
Disengagement from personal and social relationships.
No one disagrees that we owe it to our veterans to continue searching for ways to address this debilitating condition. But what are the best forms of treatment?
One team of researchers set about to determine the extent to which animal-assisted therapy (AAT), specifically the use of psychiatric service dogs, could beneficially supplement traditional PTSD therapies.
In case you missed it, read our past blog: “Service Dogs Offer a New Lease on Life for Wounded Veterans with PTSD.”
What Can Service Dogs Do?
Shepherd Service Dog Laying on the Beach (Courtesy: Krista Grear from Pixabay)
AAT is defined as a goal-directed intervention in which an animal (usually a dog) becomes an integral part of the treatment process. PTSD service dogs can provide a wide spectrum of assistance:
Alerting the handler to signs of increased anger, anxiety or agitation (for example, by responding to such physical cues as clenching fists).
Noting the physical signs of an impending flashback (by observing a body motion or seeing the handler “zoning out”).
Helping the handler re-engage in everyday life (dogs trained to facilitate socialization can increase the opportunities for contact with others).
Promoting responsibility and self-confidence (providing handlers with opportunities to care for and nurture their service dogs).
Building human-animal emotional bonds that increase feelings of support and well-being.
Poodle Service Dog in Training (Courtesy: MobilityDog.org)
COMPONENTS of the Training
Participants began the study by completing a series of baseline assessments of their PTSD symptoms, from one month before the training began to six months post-training. The study group was small: 13 veterans (four females and nine males).
The training incorporated teaching the veterans about:
Proper dog care and handling.
How best to employ the dogs’ skills; and
Accompanying the animals to social events and public settings.
They also learned about resilience, anger management and anxiety control, corresponding to the dog’s training in observing and alerting to the handlers’ responses to stress and exposure to trauma reminders.
The veterans also took their dogs on exposure-heightening trips to stores during busy times, movie theaters, restaurants and flights on small aircraft. Training of the dogs took place over eight to 12 months, depending on the identified needs of specific veterans.
Research Shows a Decrease in PTSD (Courtesy: Pabitra Keity, Pixabay)
Results of the Analysis
The research evaluated two specific factors:
The degree to which the veteran’s PTSD symptoms decreased; and
The extent to which the changes were clinically significant (that is, whether they were important in improving the participants’ lives).
The self-reported scores for PTSD per se dropped from an index of about 65 to about 32 between the first day of training and a six-month follow-up. These numbers reflected a clinically significant improvement. Scores for depression decreased from an index of about 15.5 to about 5.5 from the first week of training to the six-month evaluation, indicating both significant change and clinical significance.
Importance of the Study
Although the study had limitations (chiefly associated with a small sample size), the researchers nevertheless observed that the post-treatment effects for PTSD symptoms were larger than expected. This is good news – their analysis suggests that incorporating AAT into traditional strategies for addressing PTSD can add to the overall beneficial effect.
Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions, partly because veterans have proven reluctant to seek treatment. Shame, mistrust of doctors and logistical difficulties are among the top reasons.
As every dog lover knows, the benefits of canine contact include unconditional love and acceptance of us humans, in spite of our flaws and pathologies. As much as any of us, veterans suffering from the lingering trauma of their combat and other service-related experiences need this kind of support and care, which extends beyond purely medical and psychological treatment.
This is one more example of how Service Dogs are not just a human’s best friend, but may also be among our most powerful psycho-trauma treatment options.