11/11/2025
November 11th is Veteran's Day. It is pretty common knowledge how helpful that pets can be to mental health in general, and it is estimated that in 2018 19% of service dogs were trained to help with PTSD in veterans. Other service dogs for veterans are trained to help with traumatic brain injuries and other military related conditions. Tasks these dogs are trained to perform include providing deep pressure therapy during anxiety or panic attacks, interrupting self-harming or compulsive behaviors, reminding the handler to take medication, alerting to the onset of panic attacks or dissociative episodes, providing grounding in overwhelming public spaces, creating physical barriers in crowded areas, leading the handler to a safe location during distress, waking the handler from nightmares or night terrors, providing tactile stimulation (by licking, for example) to help with emotional regulation, and interrupting negative thought spirals. There are many programs in place with the goal of providing free service dogs to military veterans, and many of these dogs are rescued from shelters and given another chance at life themselves. If you want to help, there are many organizations that you can donate to- make sure that you do your research and are comfortable with the organization you chose to support.
