There are a lot of people who love animals. There are those who choose to have tons of pets from cats, dogs, chickens, horses, lizards and more. There are also those who love animals so much that they choose to go vegan or those who don’t eat anything from an animal or wear any type of clothing that came from animal skin.
Then there are also those who are not just lovers of animals but also use them for comfort. This is the new trend known as the emotional animal support. There have been a lot of controversies about this recently so if you want to find out more about it including how to get one then just keep on reading.
How Does Emotional Animal Support Work?
The emotional animal support controversy is said to be nothing new but it is just coming back nowadays especially with the fact that it is on trend. The most recent conflicts are the people who are bringing their animal support on the plan.
Before we get into that, you must first need to understand that this is actually way more different than having them as pets, because this is some form of a treatment especially for those who are suffering from mental health issues.
According to psychiatrists and the author of The Power of Different, Dr. Gail Saltz, emotional animal support works as a calming factor for those who are suffering from anxiety and depression. Some of these people find the presence of animals very calming and it could also help them boost their mounds.
She also explained how these people who have emotional animal support would feel as if they are wanted, needed, and they also feel as if they have a purpose when it comes to taking care of their animals. That kind of feeling would help them find peace from their inner self and would prevent them from having panic or anxiety attacks.
According to animal behaviorist, Dr. Marc Beckoo, who is also a professor at the University of Colorado, any animal could be an emotional support for humans. He mentioned that just lie beauty, the emotional support is actually on the eye of the beholder, which is why a presence of an animal could instantly make people feel more comfortable in certain situations.
Animals have this power to relieve different kinds of stress, and this is something that no therapy could do. Psychologist John Mayer, who is the author of the Family Fit: Find Your Balance In Life said in an interview with SELF, that animals have the ability to be able to provide devotion and love without asking for anything in return.
They have the purest of intentions. The fact that they are calm gives a mindful experience to a person. Unfortunately, animals who are emotionally supporting humans could also be mistreated in such different ways.
Are you looking to register an emotional support animal? https://t.co/BHjZNIsplx pic.twitter.com/0fK5oDbwML
— ESA Doctors (@ESAdoctors) January 16, 2018
Emotional Animal Support Controversy
Unfortunately, those people who have emotional animal support are not certified by the ADA or the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is an act wherein a person with a disability may bring a service animal, which is most commonly a dog, to wherever they go. These dogs are trained to guide their owners with disability just like people who are unable to see.
However, there is what they call as the Air Carrier Access Act, wherein it identifies emotional support animals as individually trained and serves assistance to a person with a disability by being able to emotionally support a person.
This act then allows a person to bring an animal that will be placed in a cabin of a plane. However, airlines do not permit dangerous animals such as reptiles and spiders. Airlines could also deny animals that are far too heavy and too large to fit or the ones that may cause disturbance to other passengers.
Those who wish to bring their emotional support animals must have a letter from a licensed therapist or psychologist that basically explains how the person bearing the letter must have their emotional spirit animal. However, just because you have the letter, doesn’t guarantee you to be allowed since it would always depend on the airline as well as the foreign country you will be flying to.