We follow-up last week’s post on pets and health. Many pet owners play the “psychology card” to justify having their pets with them in public because they bring comfort. Whether we’re talking about an airplane, church, college, grocery store, restaurant, or apartments/condos with pet restrictions, the argument goes something like, “I need my pet with me or I can’t handle the stress of everyday living.”
There is a distinction between Service Animals (SA) and Emotional Support Animals (ESA). We have seen SAs in public for many years, and their use is guided by laws. To qualify for a trained service animal, you must have a disability, a disability-related need for the animal, and one trained to perform tasks or services to alleviate the effects of disability. Unlike SA laws, however, guidelines for the ESA are vague and easy to meet. As a result, a well-intentioned idea has hemorrhaged to the point of absurdity as people claim their pet is an ESA to circumvent pet restrictions. It is not difficult for a mental health professional to agree that the symptoms of your anxiety disorders can be ameliorated by your pet, and qualifies it as an ESA.
The justification for ESAs sounds good, but is it based on sound Psychology? Probably not. An argument can be made that an ESA is nothing more than a security blanket, and based on a misapplication of what Psychology says about how best to cope with life’s challenges. Successful coping with stress requires taking the difficult road and meeting challenges head on, not relying on emotional crutches like ESAs for protection. Unfortunately, as we often note in this blog, too often people work to avoid stressful challenges because that’s the easy thing to do. ESAs, of course, encourage avoidance because the ESA is a sign of surrender, a convenient prop to help circumvent stress and say, “I am helpless and can’t handle stress without my pet at my side.” This attitude is psychologically unhealthy. Effective coping actions are those that give you a sense of personal empowerment, and mitigate the need for security blankets like ESAs that can be intrusive to others.
Interestingly, many colleges allow resident students to bring their pet with them for emotional support. College can be a difficult time. Attending classes, meeting the expectations of professors, and keeping up a grade-point average can all take their toll. Students may find it difficult to be away from family, friends, and the lovable furry companion they’ve had for years. Colleges seem to be saying, “We will ease your transition to college by allowing you to bring Rover.” What happened to the idea that college is supposed to teach young people the value of achievement motivation and personal initiative, the ability to act independently, and how to develop critical thinking skills to solve problems? Rather than allowing ESAs, colleges should say, “If you need your pet with you, don’t go to college or at least choose one within commuting distance from home so you go home each day to mommy, daddy, and your pet. Also, remember,
that the military, and nearly all civilian jobs, will not allow you to bring your pet along.”
How did this ESA nonsense develop? As we noted in last week’s blog, some psychological research has shown the health benefits of having a pet. Extrapolating, it’s easy for some to conclude they will be better able to function in challenging situations if they have their pet with them. Similar fallacious generalizations have been made from research showing the adverse effect of being raised in an emotionally-deprived environment. “Gee, I was raised by terrible parents. My problems are their fault!” Not true! These extrapolations are gross misuses of psychological principles. The fact is, as many of our blog entries argue, being raised in a deprived environment does not release you from personal accountability and responsibility; suffering trauma does not mean someone else is to blame for your inability to face challenges imposed by the trauma; and, emotional disabilities do not entitle you to have the corners of your world padded. Those are the true messages of psychology. You must develop personal empowerment coping strategies to take on the challenges of life, and leave the dog at home.
Psychology and Stress 