This Veterans Day, as we honor and thank the many who have served to protect freedom and democracy, it’s important to recognize that veterans face much higher rates of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicidality than the civilian population.

In a blog post titled “Veteran Mental Health: Not All Wounds Are Visible,” National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) President Dan Gillison highlights the mental and emotional cost of service: “Research suggests that 11–20% of veterans experience PTSD in a given year — significantly higher than past-year estimates for the general population at less than 4%.”

An NBC News article highlights one form of treatment making a difference to veterans: service dogs.

José Romero, a 42-year-old Army veteran who served six years in Afghanistan and Iraq, was struggling with PTSD and suicidal thoughts. In the infantry during his tour in Iraq, he dealt with daily high-stress situations, clearing houses and dealing with ambushes. “When I left the Army, I was in pretty bad shape. I was having nightmares, sweating, and had a lot of anxiety. I didn’t want to get out of my house,” he shared.

His life changed when he was partnered an Australian Shepherd service dog named Puppy, thanks to K9s for Warriors, an organization that has rescued over 1,500 dogs from shelters, training them as service dogs for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

“In the military, we don’t always try to get help because we want to be all that we can be. But you need to look for help,” Romero stressed. “I tried to commit suicide three times. And I am still here because I got help.”

It was his wife, Brenda, a nurse practitioner in psychiatry, who encouraged him to apply for a service dog. While he had to wait five years for Puppy, he credits his wife and his service dog for giving him hope. “If I would have killed myself, I would have never lived to see my twin girls,” Romero said. “I would have never seen how life could be good.”

Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs, says on its website that “there is not enough research to know if dogs help treat PTSD and symptoms.” Maggie O’Haire, associate dean at the University of Arizona’s College of Veterinary Medicine, who studies interactions between humans and animals is working to change that.

“If you look at the numbers, veterans are dying by suicide at more than double the rate of civilian adults. And they’re three to five times more likely to have depression than individuals without PTSD,” she says.

O’Haire is seeking to fill the research void, since data and science determine “what insurance will cover, what funders will pay for, and what clinicians will endorse.”

The 2021 PAWS Act, requires the VA to conduct a five-year pilot program to test out providing service dogs to eligible veterans with PTSD. Even so, wait times for service dogs are extremely long. Before COVID, the waitlist for service dogs averaged two years. “Right now, we know the average has gone up to five years from the day they apply,” O’Haire said. “This is is one of the reasons that we try to bring science and research to the table, because funders supporting organizations are looking for data.”

Her research on participants from K9s for Warriors is showing promise. So far, veterans with service dogs are struggling less on multiple levels.

“They have clinically lower levels of PTSD symptoms — about 25% less. They have 30% lower depression and 10% lower anxiety,” she noted. “If we look at quality of life, they report having three times higher overall psychological well-being. And for those who are employed, there’s five times less absenteeism from work due to health.”

Carl Cricco, CEO of K9s for Warriors, added that many veterans “found renewed enjoyment in life, and significantly reduced their medications” after getting partnered with a service dog. Ending veteran suicide is the program’s top mission.

Read the full article here.

Conde, Arturo. “A life companion’: These service dogs are helping veterans cope with PTSD.” NBC News.com, 11 Nov 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/veterans-latinos-service-dogs-ptsd-k9s-warriors-rcna56439.

Photo by Artem Labunsky on Unsplash