There are many trying times in life, some of which are hard to cope and no matter, how many people are in your life, you don’t seem to get a solution out of it. At such times, what is needed is an equipment to give you emotional support. Fortunately, now, there is one. There are emotional support animals or ESA, as they are called which are available to give support to those who require emotional support in case of any mental health conditions or those suffering from stress, depression or any other kinds of trauma.
Since there are guidelines and rules regarding getting an emotional support dog, you will have to follow them if you wish to get an emotional support animal for yourself or for a loved one.
The qualification conditions to fulfil to get an emotional support dog
If a person wishes to get a dog for emotional support, then there are certain criteria the person should fulfil. It means there are many qualifications that you need to have or possess so that you can get an emotional support animal.
First, the most important criteria is that the person will have to be a mentally or an emotionally disabled person. That means, the person should have a medical condition that they are emotionally unstable or that they are not mentally fit. It is not enough that the family or friends of the person realizes it. There needs to be authentic proof for the same. They need to make a declaration regarding the same before a health professional. It has to be a licensed professional who can be a psychologist, therapist or a medical doctor. Though medical doctors are not that known to treat mental disorders, it is a fact that they are trained to diagnose and treat mental disorder and also prescribe medicines to treat such disorders.
Now, comes the next part which is getting a medical prescription letter. It has a certain format which needs to be followed strictly. It has to be filled in correctly as well. Any missing information or any deviation from the format means that letter will not be accepted. What the letter mentions is that the said person, whose details are included in the medical prescription letter, is undergoing medical care and treatment from a licensed medical professional who has filled the letter for the person. Another rule is that the person for whom the letter is being filled was under medical care from the doctor for a particular mental disorder. It is not all. The mental disorder that the doctor will mention will have to be one listed under the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders.
Also, the disorder or disability should be in the form or effect that because of the same, the person is unable to work for a livelihood. Then, the medical professional will also have to write a prescription which stresses on the necessity of an emotional support animal to treat the disability condition of the person.