5 Facts about Emotional Support Animals

Emotional support animals are guides which are assigned to an individual suffering from various mental health disorders. They provide comfort, love, and companionship. You can check out various blogs and read more about ESAs for more information on them. Below are a few facts about them as well.

1.    You require documentation to get one

In order to qualify for an emotional support animal, you need to obtain a letter or some form of documentation from a qualified, licensed mental health expert. This helps to make the process of obtaining a support animal a lot easier with a minimal amount of hassle. Emotional support animals are suitable for people who may be suffering from depression, or other mental health issues such as anxiety or bipolar disorder. Not everyone can just ask for an emotional support animal out of the blue – you need to have a clinician diagnose you and write a recommendation for you to get one.

2.    They are part of the treatment process

Emotional support animals are very helpful in helping to deal with various disorders, but you have to remember that they are not the only form of treatment that you can use. It is not advisable to solely depend on an emotional support animal to help you get better since they are supposed to be a complement to the other forms of treatment that you are using. They do provide comfort and a lot of assistance to individuals but it is best to keep up with therapy and medication as well since all these methods are a collective process to help you get better.

3.   You may have more than one

It is perfectly okay to have more than one emotional support animal. If your clinician recommends it and grants you documentation to obtain them both, there should be no problem in the process. Remember, however, to pay attention to your location and your area of residence, since various areas may have different laws and ESAs may be restricted in various housing units. To avoid any conflict or legal issues, put all these factors into consideration to make the entire process as easy as possible.

4.   Different types of animals can be emotional support animals

Contrary to popular belief, cats and dogs are not the only animals that can be emotional support animals. Any type of animal can qualify to be an ESA, as long as it does not pose any form of threat to you or to those around you. Selection of these animals therefore has to remain within reasonable limits in terms of the type of behavior and temperament of the animal.

5.   They require responsibility from you

Emotional support animals are there to help and comfort you, but this does not mean that you don’t have a certain amount of obligation to them. You have to be responsible and take care of them by feeding them and taking them for regular visits to the vet. They will give you love but it is wise to reciprocate the same amount of love to them.