9 Ways an ESA Pet Helps Suppress Anxiety
Anxiety is one of the first signs that you are under stress. It’s defined as feeling uneasy, worried, or nervous, especially when one isn’t sure about a certain outcome. Depending on the intensity, anxiety can be normal or go beyond what is healthy. Anxiety attacks are common in almost everyone, but the duration and intensity are what varies from person to person.
Certain events in our daily routine may make us anxious. They include but are not limited to the first day on a new job, making a speech in front of a board of directors, the first day in school, the first day driving on your own, or sitting in front of an interview panel. It’s normal to be anxious since this is the body’s way of coping with certain situations. At the start of these events or circumstances, anxiety is allowed and often disappears once you get started.
However, excessive anxiety such as feeling dizzy, sweating profusely when you enter an elevator or when you stand in front of people is not the usual anxiety. Do you often feel like you are suffocating when inside a closed place? All these things usually signify an anxiety disorder that may require medical attention.
Besides, anxiety is usually a combination of disorders such as panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorders, phobias, separation anxiety disorder, and illness anxiety disorder. The good news is that anxiety can be treated when one takes care of the symptoms early enough. Getting adequate sleep, avoiding alcohol, staying active, eating a balanced diet, and exercising all go a long way in getting rid of anxiety.
These disorders can present themselves to anyone, but women are more prone to anxiety. Since anxiety is a form of emotional disorder, it’s easily treatable using several methods. One of the best ways to treat anxiety is by using an Emotional Support Animal (ESA). Let’s look at nine reasons why an Emotional Support Animal will help a person cope with anxiety.
You can get your ESA letter after getting assessed by our licensed doctors at ESA Care.
Let’s look at each reason at a time.
1. Ability to Sleep Better
When a room gets dark or, the lights are turned off, and the body releases a hormone called melatonin. The hormone is secreted by the pineal gland in the brain and is responsible for your ability to sleep. Its deficiency is what keeps one awake at night.
To assist one sleep better, the hormone is synchronized with the Circadian Rhythm, which is your Body’s natural clock. The Circadian Rhythm is somewhere working in the back of your brain and is responsible for regulating the intervals at which you sleep and wake up.
Effects of Anxiety on Sleep
When one is anxious, they are likely to suffer from Sleep Deprivation (SD). The recommended hours of sleep in a healthy adult is 8 hours. Anything less than this puts one at the risk of mental health issues and disorders. A person with constant anxiety is likely to suffer from insomnia which impacts negatively on their overall health. In the long run, lack of sleep causes one to lack concentration which may hamper with one’s daily functions.
In the long run, lack of adequate sleep may also lead to diseases such as diabetes, heart problems, stroke, and loss of cognitive abilities. Without cognition, you can’t memorize things or logically look at things. Therefore, squeezing in the necessary hours of sleep into one’s busy schedules is critical to a long healthy life free of any anxiety or lifestyle diseases.
How Does Support from a Pet Buddy Help You Sleep Better
Now that you know the importance of proper production of melatonin in your body, you need to ensure that your body always gets the right amount of this crucial hormone. When there’s enough melatonin in your system, you will always sleep properly. So, what has an emotional support animal got to do with sleeping better?
Well, an ESA is trained to help you relax, even during tense situations. When you are relaxed, your body can adequately produce all the necessary hormones such as melatonin which helps fight lack of sleep. With adequate sleep, you will not suffer from any anxiety disorders. When your body is relaxed, and at peace, your brain releases melatonin at the right time, which helps you fall asleep. More sleep translates to less anxiety.
Here are four steps to help you get an Emotional Support Animal:
Steps to follow:
Step 1: Identify any symptoms of anxiety such as sweating profusely or feeling dizzy when in social gatherings.
Step 2: In case you notice any signs and symptoms that point to abnormal anxiety, make an appointment to see a physician.
Step 3: The doctor will request you to take some tests to assess whether you have an anxiety disorder.
Step 4: Depending on the results of the tests, the doctor will recommend getting an ESA.
What’s the Impact?
Once you have an ESA by your side, you will always be relaxed, which triggers the production of melatonin by the brain leading to better sleeping patterns.
Get your ESA letter after getting assessed by our licensed doctors at ESA Care.
2. Motivation to Socialize
Socializing can be terrifying for some people. Human beings are social animals and often need to engage in social activities. However, there are those people who get jitters and panic whenever they attend social events. During social engagements, one may fear that they will make a fool of themselves and become a laughing stock among peers. So bad is some anxiety attacks that one gets tongue-tied or even faints when approached by other people at these events. There’s a difference between being shy and anxious. For shy people, they often show up at functions but are only comfortable talking to particular people.
When one is suffering from social anxiety, they are always second-guessing themselves and feeling out of place among the crowd. Interacting with people becomes difficult for fear of making a fool out of themselves. Once you feel like everyone is watching you during an event, or you feel the urge to run away during events, then you are most likely suffering from anxiety.
An Emotional Support Animal Helps You Socialize
Since you take an ESA wherever you go, the animal can help you cope with social anxiety. When you are out in the crowds, you can hold on to the animal, which helps calm your nerves. There’s a special connection between you and the support buddy which translates to improved social relationships. These animals offer you unconditional love which boosts your self-esteem and gives you the courage to socialize.
These furry friends are trained to love and care for you unconditionally. Their presence helps fight any negative thoughts that you may have, especially during social engagements. Their presence provides you with comfort and helps your mind from straying into self-destructive thoughts. When you have an ESA, they can quickly pick up on your mood, and when they notice that you are anxious during an event, they will be quick to distract you. Doing so will help build your confidence and allow you to interact with other people.
If you are feeling the need for an Emotional Support Animal, here are some guidelines to help you get one:
Steps to Follow
Step 1: Look for any signs that may point to getting overly anxious when faced with situations. Such symptoms may include sweating profusely, dizziness, unexplained weight loss, among others.
Step 2: Get in touch with a doctor and make an appointment. Ensure that you tell the doctor openly about any fears that you may have or anything in your environment that triggers anxiety.
Step 3: The doctor will review your medical history and recommend some tests.
Step 4: Depending on the outcome, the doctor will direct you to get an Emotional Support Animal to help you deal with anxiety.
What’s the Impact?
An ESA will boost your confidence and build your self-esteem, which will help you interact better with other people.
Acquire your ESA letter after getting checked by our licensed doctors at ESA Care.
3. Fall in love with Yourself Again
There’s a direct correlation between the feeling of self-hate and anxiety. When one loathes themselves, they are likely to develop anxiety and have self-defeating thoughts. Self-hate may develop due to circumstances such as bullying, traumatic experiences, verbal and physical abuse by people. Such occurrences mess up one’s head and lead to self-hatred and low esteem.
Being Anxious Messes with Your Confidence
Being confident is a great thing in life. It helps you positively seize opportunities and approach life. However, anxiety wrecks one’s confidence and restrains them from achieving their full potential. When anxious, one believes that they can’t achieve anything big and don’t even deserve nice treatment from anyone. Anxiety steals your self-worth, leaving you with nothing to motivate you to achieve great things.
It’s important to understand that your life matters, and achieving greatness starts by loving oneself. If you don’t love yourself, then others won’t. Anytime thoughts of self-hate cloud your mind, it’s essential to shake them off and replace them with positive thoughts.
Failure to curb self-defeating thoughts may result in negativity and lead to the development of mental health disorders.
Invest in a Support System
Negative thoughts will only mess with your head and lead to a poor life—increased self-hate results in anxiety which is detrimental to your health. However, having an Emotional Support Animal provides you with the necessary support system to keep you going and winning in life. The support buddy provides you with the confidence to face life positively.
ESAs are all you need to get rid of anxiety
Health care providers and specialists believe that one of the best therapies for anxiety is having an Emotional Support Animal. These special animals provide you with love and care to face life positively and full of energy.
Here are four steps to follow to get an Emotional Support Animal:
Steps to Follow
Step 1: Identify any symptoms of anxiety that you may have. They may include uncontrollable shaking and sweating when in front of people.
Step 2: Consult a doctor and explain to them these symptoms.
Step 3: The doctor will recommend some tests to assess what could be causing you to become anxious.
Step 4: For therapy, the doctor will most likely recommend an Emotional Support Animal.
How it Will Help You?
Having an Emotional Support Animal all the time will help boost your self-confidence and live positively.
Acquire your ESA letter after getting assessed by our licensed practitioners at ESA Care.
4. Remain Calm in All Situations
People who are constantly under stress tend to be always irritable and constantly worry about everything. When one has anxiety, it becomes difficult to concentrate and focus on a particular thing. Anxiety makes one always distracted, which leads to poor performance and reduced productivity. Students who are full of anxiety rarely concentrate in class, and they may flop in their studies.
Someone at work who has anxiety will always be irritable, which may hamper interactions with other colleagues. Moreover, such people rarely participate in office events or team building activities which further weakens their social relationships at work. Apart from poor relationships, an anxious person is likely to lack efficiency at work.
How can one focus on a particular thing when their thoughts are always distracted?
Get a Support Buddy to Help Calm Down
If you are always anxious or have a loved one who suffers from this disorder, getting an Emotional Support Animal will help keep one calm when anxiety strikes. While most people confuse ESAs with pets, they are unique in that they have been trained to offer their owners unconditional support and love. These support animals enjoy privileges that normal pets may not access. An ESA will help calm one down, allowing them to concentrate on the task at hand.
With an Emotional Support Animal around, you will never be lonely, which helps prevent you from drifting or losing the focus of things. These perfect companions are with you all the time, even when things are rough. Their unconditional presence has a calming effect and makes you relax. When one is relaxed, productivity is improved, and high performance is achieved.
To get an ESA, here are the steps that you need to follow:
Steps to Follow:
Step 1: The first thing is to identify any signs of anxiety that are making you lose focus and stealing your concentration. What are the triggers of anxiety in your environment?
Step 2: Once you identify, visit a mental health physician who will look at your history and discuss your symptoms to get a better understanding of the situation.
Step 3: The physician will proceed to order some tests which you will need to do to help figure out what could be the problem.
Step 4: Depending on the results, the doctor will recommend getting an Emotional Support Animal to help you deal with anxiety.
What will be the Impact on You?
Having an ESA around will help you keep your cool and remain calm all the time. You will rarely suffer anxiety attacks with this animal around.
5. ESA Helps You Face Traumatic Experiences
In life, we will always face two situations; good and bad. Some of these situations may not be in our control and arise from the environment that we are in. Bad experiences are traumatic and may dent one’s life for good. While some easily recover from these traumatic memories, some don’t so lack and end up with mental health disorders.
Bad Experiences Are Hard To Forget
Sometimes in life, one may experience traumas so much that they start wondering why no good things come their way. Constantly experiencing bad things may make one feel anxious about every situation, and they may fear to do anything for fear of failure. For example, a person who has been constantly abused in a marriage may feel anxious about going out on a date. Trauma increases the occurrence of anxiety attacks which may lead to worse mental disorders such as depression, ADHD, and psychosis.
Mental health is important because failure to address one condition makes things worse, and a person’s well being may continue to deteriorate. When one’s mind is clouded by negative thoughts from past traumatic experiences, they may live in fear and full of anxiety.
You Need Support After Trauma
Therapy is one of the best ways to get over traumatic experiences. It may take time, but when done right, one may recover and live a productive life. Part of therapy involves getting an Emotional Support Animal which will do wonders for your recovery. The best thing about these animals is that they listen quietly as you talk and will not judge you. Since they are always on your side, you will feel safe and loved, which will help you recover from any trauma. When they sense a change in your mood, they rush to give you a cuddle which helps calm your nerves.
To secure an Emotional Support Animal, you need to follow these steps:
Steps to Follow
Step 1: Identify any symptoms of anxiety such as nervousness and always feeling tense about situations.
Step 2: Make an appointment with a doctor who will carry out an assessment and help identify the reasons for your anxiety.
Step 3: After a thorough assessment, the doctor will recommend some tests which you need to make sure that you do.
Step 4: After reading and evaluating the test report, the doctor will most likely recommend an ESA to help you deal with your anxiety.
How Will it Help?
Having a support buddy will keep you on your toes. These animals require constant care and attention, which will prevent you from drifting into negative thoughts from your past. With time, you will find healing and recovery from your trauma.
You can get your ESA letter after getting assessed by our licensed doctors at ESA Care.
6. ESAs Help with Stress Management
Life is filled with ups and downs, which may, at times, cause tension in our lives. Stress is a common part of life since things will not always go your way all the time. In school, academics may, at times, be challenging, which gives one stress. Other hustles of life, such as a job loss, when a loved one is sick, failure to pay one’s mortgage, or tough times in the family may all lead to stress. While some people are good at coping with stress, others such as those with anxiety may have a rough time managing it.
Habits Formed When One is Stressed
Not everyone can easily cope with stress. Some people may avoid reality since it seems to be too stressful. Failure to adequately manage stress results in the development of bad habits such as regular drinking, drug abuse, eating excessively, and social withdrawal. These habits affect one’s overall health and act as a gateway to more diseases.
Just a reminder; failure to address stress will result in lots of consequences such as poor physical and mental health, damaged relationships, and breakdown of the family unit.
Always strive to manage stress before it spirals out of control. Remember those bad situations aren’t there to last. They will come and go, but once your health is destroyed, it may be difficult to recover. One of the best ways to cope with stress is having an Emotional Support Animal.
Managing Stress by having an ESA
According to an article on helpguide.org, healthcare providers have endorsed the use of Emotional Support Animals in the treatment of mental health disorders. According to the experts, regularly interacting with these animals has a calming effect which helps in the secretion of hormones such as dopamine and serotonin, which help alleviate stress. The deficit of such hormones results in poor stress management.
Follow these steps to get an ESA that will help you cope better with stress:
Steps to Follow
Step 1: Look out for signs of anxiety such as irritability, mood swings, rapid heart rate, among others.
Step 2: If you notice any of these signs, get in touch with a doctor who will assess your situation.
Step 3: The healthcare provider will look into your medical history and recommend some tests.
Step 4: Depending on the results, the doctor may recommend getting an ESA to help cope with your anxiety.
Will it Impact You?
The presence of an ESA in your life will help you cope better with stressful situations. The animal will help you relax and stay calm even under stressful situations which in turn helps you lead a healthy life.
You can get your ESA letter after getting assessed by our licensed doctors at ESA Care.
7. ESAs Help Get Rid of Loneliness
As mentioned earlier, human beings are social animals. As the saying goes, no man is an island. One can’t live alone and avoid interacting with people all their life. It’s impossible. However, sometimes one may feel like remaining isolated or taking a break from society. While this may help for a while, constantly wanting to be alone may signify a deeper problem. Having friends and family around gives one a sense of belonging. You get to share various things that help life worth living.
Loneliness Is Your Worst Enemy
Isolation from society is detrimental to one’s well being. Circumstances such as losing a loved one or going through a divorce may make one avoid socializing with people. After such events, one may want to hide in their rooms and even avoid eating or talking to anyone. Doing so will not only impact negatively on one’s health but may result in temporary insanity.
Loneliness is even worse for people with an anxiety disorder or any other mental health issues. Being alone, especially for someone with anxiety, will result in negative thoughts which can lead to harmful and destructive behavior. When alone, such people will lament and blame themselves for the bad events that have their way.
However, having an Emotional Support Animal is one of the best ways to fight loneliness. These animals will be your companion and will go with you everywhere. They will travel with you, cuddle with you at home and shadow your every move.
No Loneliness With an ESA Around
An ESA is your constant companion. Wherever you go, the animal is trained to follow you. Better yet, these animals can offer a listening ear when you want to vent any emotions that you may have locked in your heart.
Studies have shown that these animals do process human speech using the left side of the brain. Therefore, when you open up to them, they will relate and even go ahead and cuddle you to comfort you. Sometimes, they will force you to get out of your couch and take them for a walk which is therapeutic in itself. These animals require constant care such as feeding and bathing, which will leave you no time to feel sorry for yourself.
To get a support buddy to help fight loneliness, follow these four steps:
Steps to Follow:
Step 1: Identify any signs of anxiety that may manifest in your life. They include withdrawing from society and the constant need to be alone.
Step 2: Get in touch with a healthcare provider who will listen and assess the situation.
Step 3: The healthcare provider may request some tests to help understand the situation better.
Step 4: After a thorough assessment and evaluation of the report, the healthcare provider will recommend getting an ESA to help you cope with anxiety.
How Will it Help?
Having a furry friend as your companion will keep you company all the time. Consequently, you will rarely be alone or which is healthy and great at keeping anxiety away.
You can get your ESA letter after getting assessed by our licensed doctors at ESA Care.
8. ESAs help you Manage Turbulences on your Body
Having anxiety doesn’t only affect the brain. It also impacts negatively on other body organs. Feeling anxious, nervous, irritable worried, or depressed may negatively affect your cardiovascular system, digestive system, and even the respiratory system.
Anxiety Affects Other Parts of the Body
When anxious, the body produces hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which are associated with flight and fight. Excessive secretion of these hormones makes your heart beat faster and leads to increased pressure in pumping blood. While the presence of these hormones is useful in the short run, their prolonged production results in high blood pressure, chest pains, and cardiovascular diseases.
When it comes to the digestive system, anxiety may cause stomach upsets, loss of appetite, and in severe cases, diarrhea. Irregular functioning of the digestive system may result in ulcers, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and other gastrointestinal diseases.
For the respiratory system, constant worry and restlessness may result in shortness of breath and irregular breathing. In the long run, irregular breathing may lead to a wide range of pulmonary diseases which leads to poor health.
Everyone suffers from mild anxiety from time to time. But when it starts to tamper with one’s productivity, then it becomes bad. Once you realize that anxiety is prohibiting your daily activities, you need to seek medical attention. Failure to do leads to the breakdown of the regular body functions, which may slowly eat away various organs and make things worse. Tackling anxiety at an early stage translates to a better life.
What Support do you Need?
Having a furry support system in the form of an Emotional Support Animal will help alleviate anxiety. These animals provide you with unconditional support and love. They also challenge you into forming a daily routine which will help you get back on track with your life. Your digestive system will get back on track, and respiratory problems will fade away. The presence of an ESA will help get things back to normal.
To get yourself a furry friend as your support system, here are four steps to guide you?
Steps to Follow:
Step 1: Identify any symptoms of anxiety such as loss of appetite, insomnia, rapid or shallow breathing, nausea, and diarrhea.
Step 2: If you notice anything that might point towards anxiety, you need to book an appointment with a mental health expert immediately.
Step 3: After careful evaluation and assessment, the doctor may request you to carry out some tests to help identify the problem.
Step 4: Depending on the results, the doctor may recommend the adoption of an Emotional Support Animal as therapy for your anxiety.
How Will It Help?
Having a support buddy as your shadow will motivate you to make your life better. The animal will lead to an improvement in your mental health which will lead to less stress and anxiety.
You can get your ESA letter after getting assessed by our licensed doctors at ESA Care.
9. ESAs Help Curb Negative Thoughts
As much as we may at times lack control over what we think about, it’s important to avoid negative thoughts. Not only do such thoughts overwork our brain, but they usually don’t provide a solution to the problems that you may have.
Thoughts of Destruction
Feeling like you don’t deserve good things, or having low self-esteem will make you lose confidence in yourself. Constant anxiety generates negative thoughts that are destructive to your personality and self-esteem. Positivity is key to lifting one’s esteem. You need to motivate yourself to be better constantly.
When you are always having negative thoughts, you may start to believe in them. Self-defeating thoughts may lead to depression and may make one have trust issues. Constant worrying doesn’t solve anything.
Say No to Negative Thoughts
You need to break the cycle of negative thoughts. Put a support system in place to help you get rid of such destructive thoughts. One way to have a support system is by adopting an Emotional Support Animal. According to studies, these animals help in the secretion of endorphins which are the hormones responsible for happiness. Increased production of endorphins results in reduced anxiety. Having an ESA around will ensure that you are always happy, relaxed, and calm.
With an ESA around, you will have a loving companion 24/7. These animals are always looking out for their owners which gives a sense of security and belonging. Additionally, taking care of an ESA will keep you busy, which means less time to worry or engage in negative thoughts.
To get an ESA as a companion, you need to follow these steps:
Steps to Follow:
Step 1: Examine yourself and identify symptoms of Stress such as restlessness, lack of sleep, loss of appetite, and desire to remain isolated.
Step 2: Visit a doctor to discuss these symptoms. The doctor will listen and deliberate on what could be causing your anxiety.
Step 3: After looking at your family or medical history, the doctor may recommend some tests to help understand the problem further.
Step 4: Upon receiving the results, the doctor may recommend getting an ESA as part of the therapy to help get rid of anxiety.
How Will it Help?
An Emotional Support Animal will provide you with the motivation and support that you need to move on with life.
Parting Shot:
Anxiety takes away flavor from your life. It hinders your growth and may lead to an unproductive life. However, with the right support system, you can overcome anxiety and lead a better life. Getting an Emotional Support Animal is a quick way of treating anxiety. These animals will offer you unconditional support and love, which will add value to your life. Remember to say no to negative thoughts and love yourself unconditionally. Your peace of mind should always come first.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!