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Service Dogs and Eating Disorder Recovery
Studies show that multi-faceted eating disorder treatment leads to the most successful outcomes. Broadly, this means individuals have a higher chance of recovery if they are treated by a team of therapists, medical doctors, nutritionists, and possibly physical therapists. Outside of these main players, individuals may enlist their own specific types of support, such as a spiritual leader, movement therapist, or mentor. A member of the team eating disorder recovery warriors may want to consider adding is a service dog.
Emotional Support Animals and Psychiatric Assistance Dogs
Emotional Support Animals, ESAs, can be “any pet or animal that can provide a therapeutic and emotional benefit to a person experiencing any kind of psychiatric disability, anxiety, or emotional disorder [1].”
These pets have certain public access rights, such as being able to board planes, enter establishments that are otherwise pet-free, and allowing the owner to bring them into their rented home or apartment without a deposit.
Studies have shown that these animals can be of great benefit to their owners and have been “prescribed” by mental health professionals to support those struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, fear and phobias, Panic Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, and many others.
Psychiatric Assistance Dogs (PADs) provide similar support. However, they are more specifically and strenuously “trained to assist its handler (owner) who has been diagnosed with a mental health condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder [2].”
These support animals mostly differ in the severity of their handlers. ESAs provide emotional support and comfort to all while PDAs are trained to not only help with comfort but with daily living activities.
As such, if you struggle with a severe eating disorder or co-occurring disorder that makes daily living or your ability to perform day-to-day tasks challenging, you may consider a PDA as opposed to an ESA.
Benefits of Service Dogs for Eating Disorder Recovery
There are specific benefits that service dogs, whether an ESA or PDA, can provide those in eating disorder recovery. Those with eating disorders struggle greatly with identifying, communicating, and coping with their emotions. In fact, disordered eating behaviors are often the result of these emotional deficits, acting as a maladaptive coping skill.
Once in treatment and working toward recovery, individuals must learn to allow themselves to feel and engage with their emotions without their disorder, and this can be an overwhelming experience. This is where ESAs and PDAs can provide support.
One study found that service dogs were particularly helpful with “emotional work because they provided a consistent and proximate source of calming support and companionship…(these) animals could intuit when such support was needed and act accordingly providing a depth of connection that was considered particularly useful in time of crisis [3].”
Service dogs can also help as those in eating disorder recovery rebuild their identity and self-view.
The same study mentioned above also found that pets and service animals are “considered important in the maintenance of a positive identity and sense of self because of the reciprocity associated with human-pet dyads, a perception that pets accepted their owners without judgement, the sense of pride associated with successfully caring for an animal, and supporting the management of felt and enacted stigma [3].”
Finally, service dogs provide calming support even as they can facilitate social engagement in their owners. Many who struggle with eating disorders report feeling isolated in their recovery, as their disorder may have “pushed away” their prior support or surrounded them with only enabling or disordered support.
Service dogs improve the “quality and quantity of existing social interactions and forged new relationships acting as a bridging tie to emotional nourishment [3].”
History has long touted the meaningful connection between humans and animals. It is this connection that can provide safe, consistent, comforting, and non-judgmental support for someone recovering from an eating disorder.
Resources:
[1] Unknown (2019). Emotional support animal registration process. Emotional Support Animal Co. Retrieved from https://www.emotionalsupportanimalco.com/blog/esa-registration/. [2] Lloyd, J., Johnston, L. Lewis, J. (2019). Psychiatric assistance dog use for people living with mental health disorders. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. [3] Brooks, H.L. et al. (2018). The power of support from companion animals for people living with mental health problems: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of the evidence. BMC Psychiatry, 18:31.About the Author:
Margot Rittenhouse, MS, PLPC, NCC is a therapist who is passionate about providing mental health support to all in need and has worked with clients with substance abuse issues, eating disorders, domestic violence victims, and offenders, and severely mentally ill youth.
As a freelance writer for Eating Disorder Hope and Addiction Hope and a mentor with MentorConnect, Margot is a passionate eating disorder advocate, committed to de-stigmatizing these illnesses while showing support for those struggling through mentoring, writing, and volunteering. Margot has a Master’s of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Johns Hopkins University.
The opinions and views of our guest contributors are shared to provide a broad perspective on eating disorders. These are not necessarily the views of Eating Disorder Hope, but an effort to offer a discussion of various issues by different concerned individuals.
We at Eating Disorder Hope understand that eating disorders result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors. If you or a loved one are suffering from an eating disorder, please know that there is hope for you, and seek immediate professional help.
Published September 29, 2020, on EatingDisorderHope.com
Reviewed & Approved on September 29, 2020, by Jacquelyn Ekern MS, LPC
