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Lexi Novitski

Peter Fields

English Composition II

March 9, 2018

Four Legged Friends

In our world today, millions of people struggle with mental illness. Depression, anxiety

disorders, bipolar, and people who struggle with panic disorders have started using animals for

comfort in times of need. When people are alone, or having invasive thoughts that are troubling,

they can count on the comfort of a furry friend. Many people have gone to their local adoption

centers and adopted cats, dogs, rabbits and even guinea pigs to help with their struggle. It is a

soothing feeling to pet an animal with fur and cuddle up with them and that’s what helps block

out the bad thoughts and replace them with good ones. Animals like cats and dogs are very

intelligent and can sense when their owner is going through a rough time. Having an emotional

support animal is beneficial for people who have mental illness and can help with therapy and

learning how to cope with it.

Living with mental illness is challenging and can make even just getting out of bed a

struggle on its own. For example, people live with debilitating anxiety, meaning that it affects

their ability to function in day to day life. Emotional support animals can make all the difference

in people with anxiety lives. According to the National Service Animal Registry, an emotional

support animal is “an animal that, by its very presence, mitigates the emotional or psychological

symptoms associated with a handler’s condition or disorder” (Anxiety). It is incredible that just

by being present, an animal can soothe someone who is struggling. It is also remarkable that

emotional support animals usually have no training and use their senses to bring their owner a
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sense of comfort and relaxation. It has a lot to do with the fact that these animals are a constant

and can be relied on for support. If they can help with emotional struggle, it can help the owner

with their day to day life as well. The benefits are endless. Just a few benefits are, increase in

social life, helping with their self-image, helps with feelings of safety and security, boost in

morale and motivation and decreased symptoms with mental illness. A study was conducted

examining the power of emotional support animals and the benefits surrounding it; within this

study includes seventeen other studies in the review of the topic. The study was conducted by

searching through nine databases, reviewing oldest literature all the way through March of 2017.

The data had to be related between animal ownership and management of diagnosable mental

conditions. The results of the seventeen studies interpreted qualitative and quantitative data.

“Quantitative evidence relating to the benefits of pet ownership was mixed with included studies

demonstrating positive, negative and neutral impacts of pet ownership. Qualitative studies

illuminated the intensiveness of connectivity people with companion animals reported, and the

multi-faceted ways in which pets contributed to the work associated with managing a mental

health condition, particularly in times of crisis” (Brooks). In conclusion, the review led to results

showing that pets do provide benefits to those with mental health conditions. There are

innumerable ways that our furry companions bring emotional and mental stability to us.

Despite studies and testaments of people who have emotional support animals, many

people are unconvinced that animals can really make an impact on people with mental illness.

Many people believe that people are exploiting their animals for personal gain and not actually

because they need emotional support. For example, a lot of apartments won’t allow pets, people

will fake having a mental illness and get a note from their doctor just so they don’t have to pay

the animal fee for apartments or so they can bring their animal when they move whether the
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realtor allows it or not. An article written by Jan Hoffman in the New York Times, writes that

she believes that emotional support animals are ripe for exploitation, meaning that people try to

milk the benefits of these animals without needing them. She recalls her experience in college

when dogs were not allowed to live on campus but is now hearing of people having potbelly pigs

and snakes as emotional support animals in college dorms. This led to Hoffman’s skepticism

about the topic. She mentions in the article a recommended reader, a physician in Santa Barbara,

said, “Life can be hard, but it’s easier now for the majority of us than it has ever been. Grow a

spine and face life without pharmaceutical or furry crutches” (Hoffman). Many other readers

responded to the article in a similar fashion. Another aspect to the debate, is traveling on board a

plane with emotional support animals. When traveling, passengers will try to claim their furry

companion is an emotional support animal, when in reality, they want their pet to fly for free.

This is currently a huge controversy and a large reason of why many people are skeptical about

animals being there for emotional comfort. “Each year, approximately 250,000 service and

support animals fly with passengers on Delta flights. This figure has skyrocketed in recent years,

as has the number of animal-related incidents. Since 2016, Delta has seen an 84% increase in

reports of urination, defecation, and biting” (Airline). Delta has also said that they’ve seen

passengers trying to pass turkeys, sugar gliders and other strange animals as emotional support.

When people do this, they are negatively affecting other passengers, especially those who

actually do have disabilities and truly need their animal when they go places. This article is

showing that by people doing this, much like the article mentioned before, it creates skepticism

that emotional support animals exist. The debate about emotional support is a strong and heavy

one that has many aspects and will most likely continue for a long time.
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On the third side of this, there are individuals who are indifferent to the idea of emotional

support animals. What this means is that someone might not necessarily agree that animals can

be supportive for mental illness but don’t care one way or the other about the decision

surrounding the issue and vice versa. This topic is a super touchy one because there is a fine line

between offending someone and inferring about their emotional support animal. This is the

reason many people don’t want to get involved in the debate. There wasn’t much data on people

who are indifferent to emotional support animals being valid. However; upon further

investigation, another viewpoint has been uncovered, the viewpoint of the therapist. It is also

very tricky for a therapist to determine if a person would benefit from having an emotional

support animal. They run the risk of making a decision that will benefit someone or inadvertently

giving scammers a way to exploit their animals. It poses an ethical dilemma for

therapists. “Emotional support animals are supposed to be part of a treatment program. However,

the authors maintain that the therapeutic benefits of these animals are unclear…Indeed, it is

possible that they can sometimes have an enabling function which actually prolongs an

individual’s psychological issues” (Herzog). Some therapists are unsure if animals are beneficial

to a patient or just something to rely on. However, most therapists will agree that animals are

therapeutic and have good results with people who struggle mentally. There are many different

positions on the emotional support animal debate because it is such a new topic.

There was one gap that I struggled with while doing the research. I expected to find more

studies or surveys on emotional support animals. I found a handful but not much that would

really be of use to me. I was hoping to find studies conducted that would help me portray what I

am trying to explain. It is hard to back up my thought process without a good scientific

background or chart to look at. I was hoping to help show correlation of improvement of
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people’s mental health with emotional support animals. I found plenty of articles saying that

therapists and physicians and scientists saying that they helped but what I really wanted was

specific studies with charts to reference. My topic was not really in the academic discussions like

I hoped.

In conclusion, most people believe that emotional support animals help people with

mental illnesses. These animals not only are a loving pet, but they are also a companion. They

are a constant in our lives that we can rely on. On our good days and our treacherous days, we

can count on the support of our furry little friends. Whether its stroking the silky fur of your cat,

or cuddling on the couch with your dog, having that emotional support does wonders for people

who struggle. Some may disagree and some are indifferent but as this topic becomes more

prevalent, more studies and research will be able to prove that we’ve got friends in our pets.
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Works Cited

“Airline Crackdowns on Emotional Support Animals Incite Controversy.” HIE Help Center, 20

Feb. 2018, hiehelpcenter.org/2018/02/20/airline-crackdowns-emotional-support-animals-

incite-controversy/.

Anxiety.org. “An Emotional Support Animal Can Help With Anxiety.” Anxiety.org, 18

Mar. 2014,

Brooks, Helen Louise, et al. “The Power of Support from Companion Animals for People Living

with Mental Health Problems: a Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis of the

Evidence.” BMC Psychiatry, BioMed Central, 5 Feb. 2018,

bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-018-1613-2.

Herzog, Hal. “Emotional Support Animals: The Therapist's Dilemma.” Psychology Today,

Sussex Publishers, 19 July 2016, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animals-and-

us/201607/emotional-support-animals-the-therapists-dilemma.

Hoffman, Jan. “Emotional Support Animals: Readers Tough on Those in Need.” The New York

Times, The New York Times, 7 Oct. 2015,