Mental patients deserve service animals
Attention all cat and dog owners: You know when you’re upset how much your pet comforts you and cheers you up.
Even the most depressed or angry person can relax and calm down from holding an animal. They let service animals in hospitals, hospice and rehabilitation centers but not mental hospitals. It would be a remarkable addition to help the patients relieve stress, fear and have a overall calming effect on the patients if they were allowed in mental hospitals.
Many people are allergic to animals, but they can reside in another ward. Many patients are in mental hospitals for extensive amounts of time, even months before they are stabilized. Comfort and service animals could expedite and aid in the treatment of mental illness. All the adults and adolescents would greatly benefit from these service animals being used appropriately in psychiatric facilities.
Guiget Lalonde, Coarsegold
This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 6:25 AM with the headline "Mental patients deserve service animals."