Specially trained service dogs helped ease PTSD symptoms in U.S. military veterans in a small study that the researchers hope will help expand options for service members.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provides talk therapy and medications to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and runs a pilot program involving service dogs .
The VA can prescribe service dogs to certain veterans diagnosed with a visual, hearing or substantial mobility impairment, including eligible veterans with PTSD, and will cover some costs associated with having a service dog. The agency continues to review the research “to evaluate the effectiveness of service dogs,” said VA press secretary Terrence Hayes, “and we are committed to providing high-quality, evidence-based care to all those who served.” Study co-author Maggie O’Haire, of the University of Arizona’s veterinary college, said one of the researchers' goals was “to bring evidence behind a practice that appears to be increasingly popular, yet historically did not have the scientific base behind it.
" Dave Crenshaw pets his service dog, Doc, in front of his home Monday in Kearny, N.J. Crenshaw, who served with the Army National Guard in Iraq and was diagnosed with PTSD in 2016, gives Doc credit for getting his life back on track.
When Dave Crenshaw met his service dog Doc, he immediately felt what he described as “joy and wholesomeness. It’s just an overwhelming feeling of ‘Hey, everything’s going to be OK.�.
