Service Dogs for Autism, Depression, and Anxiety

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****trigger warning* Mention of depression and anxiety ****

So, I have a question for the forum as a whole. I've been looking into service dogs for autism/ depression/ anxiety as I have issues going out/ feeling comfortable in public outside of places I've been too several times or in my home town. I love going out and hanging out with people or going to things like conventions, but I often talk myself out of it or end up cancelling because I feel like I would make a fool of myself along with feeling overwhelmed. I've also had panic attacks in public when I lose the people I'm shopping with or if there are too many people around me. Or just random bursts out of no where. I also have issues with having anxiety all throughout my work day, as I work in a school with entitled children who's parents are rant, rave, and rescue types and its a lot of pressure on those of us who work in the SpEd department.

I've also suffered from depression since I was 11 and have been on medication for it for a year and a half (along with medication for ADD/ADHD). I also have medication for the anxiety but I do not take it as I feel extremely sleepy after taking it (as it's meant to be like a tranquilizer, so I end up feeling sluggish for the rest of the day). I've also had adverse side effects on the anti-depressant medications that they have put me on (heart palpitations, excessive sweating, lack of interest/focus to name some of the milder ones).

I'm looking into the service dog as both a way for me to help reconnect with the outside world along with having a way to get off the medications and have a system/ support in place that for me is a better alternative than medication should I have a panic attack or anxiety attack. But my question is, would a service dog be the right thing. Or rather, would just getting a regular dog be something more beneficial? I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

You could probably simplify the decision by answering these two questions:

Is there anywhere you would need the dog with you where a non-service dog isn't allowed?
Would you need the dog to perform a specific task in order to help you through anxiety attacks etc?

Yes would probably mean that you'd want to look into a service dog over a pet (if you only answered yes to the second one and you're willing and able to put in the work, you can train a non-service dog to do the task you need).

I went the pet route myself. Even when my pups aren't present, I know they'll be there when I get home and that's huge at helping me get through the day. I have pictures of them open on my work computer at all times, and I flip over to them when I start to feel overwhelmed.

I have been looking into service dogs for the same reasons as you. I can't say I have experience on the matter, but that I personally think it's a good idea.
Finances and living situation is the only thing stopping me from looking into one myself

I think that's a great idea. That would be a benefit to many of us.

I've been looking into getting a service dog as well, because I'll be moving out of my parents house and living on my own for the first time next year, and I think a SA (service animal) would go a long way towards helping my anxiety, meltdowns, and crowd aversions. My parents aren't thrilled at the idea because they don't think my problems are bad enough to warrant one, and while I'm living at home, they're right, on my own I suspect it will be a different story.

The one thing I would caution you about concerning a service dog is that there are times when it will exacerbate your anxiety; business owners who don't understand SA laws will try to refuse your dog entry, and you may wind up with a confrontation on your hands. You will also be the center of attention every time you go out, and will have to get comfortable being firm with people, because they will try to pet, talk to, feed, or distract your dog while it's working, which is very unhelpful. To try and mitigate this problem, I'm going to have several patches on my dog's vest which read, "Autism Service Dog, do not approach: speaking to handler causes anxiety" or something to that effect. I'm also going to keep a card with a list of the ADA laws which pertain to service dogs, which I can hand to business owners. Good luck, and keep us updated on your progress!

Startrekkar, that's brilliant insight.

Thank you It's become a minor obsession of mine, so I've been doing a lot of research on the subject.

Could someone [as in me] get a service cat...or just a regular cat?

** Long Post**

To answer your first question, it would be to things like restaurants, stores, and my work. My work tends to be a very stressful place as I work with a lot of "afluenza" type kids and the students I worked with this year continually told me that all the students hated me and that they didn't want me to come back along with groaning whenever I returned from the weekend or vacation. I also have a panic/anxiety whenever I get called into my boss' office (even if I'm not in trouble/ it's just for them to check up on how my job is going [ I work one on one with SpEd students and they want to make sure all is well] As such, having a service dog there would be helpful/ ground me. It'd also allow me to do my job without having to rely on anti anxiety medication that puts me to sleep.

I know when I have anxiety I tend to scratch my head really hard (to the point of bleeding at some times), pick at scabs/ my heel, and rub my wrist roughly as well. Other times I'll I also have the desire to hug something or have something lay on me. My hope would be with the dog would be that they alert me to when I'm having an attack or when I am doing those behaviors to stop them. I'd also hope that I could have the dog lay on my feet to satisfy the need for pressure much like the gif below.


As much as I'd love to go the picture route, I don't have a desk at my work and it's frowned upon for me to have my phone out unless I'm talking to a student's case manager. So I can't look at animals :/



I've been researching into them and have the same issues on the financial front along with living situation. I think it'd be good also, as having a dog means I would have to be on a schedule/ better self care and sleep because a dog needs consistency. For me personally, I have issues with making a schedule and getting to sleep on time, so that might be na unexpected benefit with a dog.



Cockney, I think humanity as a whole, both NT and non NT, benefit from animals in general. I know for me, I'm looking into it as I want to feel healthier and more at balance. Which isn't to say, that medication is bad. It's a good tool that helps a lot of people but it doesn't seem to be helping me.



StarTrekker, first off, I'm loving the Seven of Nine icon. She's one of my favorites and I think she's pretty awesome And I'm hoping to be moving out soon but money prevents me at the moment. My parents are understanding but I'm not sure how understanding they'll be to a service dog. I'm hoping that with all the research I've been doing into it will make them more likely to say yes. In my mother's case at least, having a fully trained dog/ a dog that is well trained would probably persuade her into saying yes.

I've been reading up on some of the challenges and I think, with patches like yours along with the cards, I think I should be okay. I just keep researching and am waiting until I get my evaluation to move forward with the service dog decision. Although I've found a breeder and trainer in my state that I will contact if I continue to move forward and have found a website that lists possible tasks that I could train a dog on if I can not afford the breeder. I encourage you to check it out, as the ADA is more wanting your dog to have trained tasks instead of being a brace emotionally and mentally. I've linked it here and I wish you luck on your journey as well and will keep you guys updated as best I can.




You could yes. I've been seeing service cats pop up. I've also heard of a few of them being just for autism. There's one article I found about them here.

Yes a service dog can make your life so much better.
But the first thing you have to think about is: do you like dogs, do you want the reponsible for a dog for many years? Are you up to training and grooming? They need you as much (maybe more) as you need him/her.
And it is a long road to get a service dog.
There are not many programs that train dogs for adults with autism, and those who do are not always good.

Years ago there were no dogs trained at all for adult aspies/autists, so since I am a dogtrainer, I trained my own dog. It takes a lot of work and the hardest thing is to find the right dog.
I was lucky; I found a calm bomb proof dog that worked for me for 8 years. We went everywhere together, I felt free and confident for the first time in my life. I still have her, she's retired and spends her days sleeping and eating and lounging.
I just got an adult dog from the shelter and I don't know if he will work out. He requires a lot of training. I hope he does, because I want my freedom back to go out alone and not always with husband and medication.

EmmaHyde, really interesting link re: service dog tasks. I followed the other links on the page also. It's wonderful what the dogs can do: carrying things, opening doors, following people, finding people, helping the handler with schedule and focus, providing social cues, and the list goes on. Very cool.

I'd recommend against having a service dog if you are depressed, having a pet requires you to be willing to take care of it at all times, no exceptions. If you have a depression and are unable to take care of yourself (which is quite common in depression), you should think twice before getting a pet.

I think your biggest difficulty would be finding a place that offers service dogs. Here, service dogs are only offered for ASD in severely autistic children (aged under 9 on application) with challenging behaviour and flighty tendencies.

It may be that you live in a place that lets you train your own but if you're depressed there's a good chance it will be too difficult as the training ought to be very rigorous.

If you only need a dog in the house, you may be able to get a support dog that didn't make the full training cut.

That said, I also would benefit from a service dog. I also have hearing loss but not severe enough for a hearing dog. They said they could see that I would benefit from an assistance animal and invited me to an assessment and to handle their dogs - I assume for a support dog that doesn't have access rights.

Greetings. Your post sparked me to do research, and I dug deeply. I live in Ontario, Canada, and there are literally no laws about what is required for a service dog. None. I found stuff for other provinces like Alberta and BC, but nothing for Ontario. I looked up service dog laws and stuff, and I couldn't find anything except for guide dogs, which means dogs for the blind, and I'm not blind.

Anyways, enough about where I'm from, but all the places I could find here that have service dogs for people with autism are for children. The range was like 2-10, 2-13, 3-8. I found one place that had 3-18. I am going to apply there when I'm off to university, since I'll be 17. They may deny me because when I apply, I'll be 2-4 months in turning 18, but it's worth a shot. I would apply now, but my parents would say I'm too "mild". I really hate the words mild, moderate, and severe, just because people will more likely give you services if you are severe vs mild. Well that's my opinion anyways.

I mainly hate it that most organizations for autism stop providing services at 18, as if the diagnosis and struggles go away magically at 18. Apparently, before, like 100 years or so ago, if you had symptoms of autism after 18, you would diagnosed with schizophrenia and treatment back then for schizophrenia was not that great. People seem to think autism is a "child's disorder or condition" because it gets diagnosed in childhood. People believed this with AD/HD even like 10-20 years ago, but it is now starting to get more recognized that there is such thing as adult AD/HD.

Anyways, most service dogs, in terms of for psychiatric conditions, are for anxiety related conditions like PTSD (the main one), anxiety disorders, and I saw a site that listed DID as one. I'm looking more into psychiatric service dogs, and basically, most common conditions are listed. I have heard people on a different forum that have a service dog for bipolar disorder and some other conditions. Here are some list I found for what a service dog can do for psychiatric and autism (note, the autism things are for children):
http://www.canidae.com/blog/2010/05/wha ... ce-dog-do/
https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/psy ... gs-indeed/
http://www.iaadp.org/psd_tasks.html
http://www.caninejournal.com/psychiatric-service-dog/

I had a better list, but I closed the tab. I also found a link on what your dog has to know in order to quality to be a service do (though I don't know how to get one in my region):
https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/vie ... Y14F-2.doc

If your dog can pass this test, then they most likely can become a service dog. There is A LOT of training involved. Some organizations can provide the dog for no cost at all, providing the dog with training already. Well, by no cost, I mean no cost to train or buy the dog I believe. You have to pay for its medical bills, and they have to prove you can take care of the dog (buy food and other stuff needed). But other than that. That is if you apply somewhere. I am unsure about a lot of stuff in terms of being certified because I haven't found how to for where I live. You may have to go to a doctor and get a note that says you can have a service dog or whatever because of XYZ condition(s). Finding a psychiatric service dog under an organization seems hard to do. You may have to look for just a service dog that is not only for mobility disabilities if that is your case.

Personally, I believe that having a service dog would be beneficial if you are willing to take care of the dog. The dog will help you, but you have to help it too. It may be a long wait to get one from an organization if that is your plan (1-2 years I found the most common), but it probably will be worth it. Hope this info helps

It sounds like you work in a classroom like setting.

It is a real up hill battle to get a service dog into any public school setting. Between the allergy worries and cultural issues, it will not be easy.

If they start fighting you tooth and nail at work, and you are in an At Will state, get ready to be kicked to the curb unless you have a contract. If you do have a contract, they don't have to renew it.

If your employer will work with you, you are extremely blessed. I know my district wouldn't hire a teacher/staff who needed a service animal.

Hate to be a downer, and before you bring up ADA law, I have yet to met anyone who has successfully won a case. That is from everything from mental illness, ADHD and ASD. The Feds need to put more teeth into before it does anything.

I do think you should go for it, but since you aren't a child expect to pay some serious cash for one.

I think it is better to work to reduce anxiety and depression in therapy with possible long-term improvements than to get a service dog that can help you, but requires also a lot of work and may be expensive to train.