Service Dog for PTSD and anxiety



 http://www.pawsitivityservicedogs.com/ptsd ‌
Link that shows benefits of a PTSD service dog.

My name is Sara Lundhild and I am 17 years old. When I was 13 I was sexually assaulted by a relative. No one knew the extent of the assault because I had buried it and refused to talk about it, until I tried to commit suicide almost two months ago. The affects of burying it eventually caught up with me and it was brought up again.

It has caused me to develop severe anxiety, PTSD, OCD, Excoriation (Skin Picking) disorder, and depression. My anxiety manifests itself in panic attacks, social anxiety, and many other ways. I also have conversion disorder , which causes pseudoseizures (PNES), stuttering, and twitching. For a period of two months, I was also unable to walk and was in a wheelchair. I am no longer able to attend traditional school, and have to attend an alternative school because of these issues. I also have trouble leaving the house and going places where there will be gatherings of people. When I do it most often results in a panic attack, which can lead into a pseudoseiure.

I have been in different types of therapy such as: Cognitive Behavourial Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), individual therapy, and group therapy. About 3 months ago, I was admitted into a partial hospitalization program at St Joe's hospital. I would go from 9-3:15 and do things such as DBT, group therapy, art and music therapy, and recreational therapy. In my third week in the program I tried to commit suicide, but failed. I was immediately admitted to the U of M Psych Hospital. I was discharged after 10 days. From there I have been in therapy, and am trying to get into groups that support people with similar issues. Despite the extensive treatment I have recieved, I have made little progress with the PTSD and anxiety.

My PTSD causes me to have intense flashbacks where I feel like I am reliving the assault. I forget where I actually am and feel like I am back in the place I was when it happened. I also have nightmares where it depicts the assault happening again. I avoid crowds of people, especially with men in them, and going out in public, because I feel unsafe and anxious. I'm also super jumpy and get scared easily (hyper vigilance). I get triggered by being around guys, people making noises (grunts, groans, etc), being in unfamiliar places, people touching me, and many other things.

My family and I feel that a service dog would help tremendously with the PTSD and anxiety. A study shows that 82% of people with PTSD benefit from a service dog. Service dogs for PTSD and anxiety provide services like: preventing panic in a public place, help find the exit to get out of the situation, alert when a pseudoseizure or panic is going to happen, provide an excuse to leave a situation, get a person out of a flashback/dissociative episode, wake a person from a nightmare, and many more. These tasks that a service dog performs would change my life drastically. It would allow me to go out in public and stop panic attacks, be able to go off to college, stop flashbacks, reduce my anxiety, warn me when I am going to have a pseudoseizure or panic attack, wake me from a nightmare, and just provide companionship to help my mood. 

Getting a service dog would be a turning point in my life. The one thing that could stop me though, is the cost. Service dogs typically cost between $15,000 to $20,000. That is a lot of money that we don't have. My parents are divorced and my mom is on disability because she is sick. My dad, who would do anything for me, cannot afford it either. We just can't afford a service dog. We are really hoping and praying for me to get a dog as soon as possible and since the training takes about a year, we are hoping sooner then later.

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