Agoraphobia & Social Anxiety Support Group

Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder, often precipitated by the fear of having a panic attack in a setting from which there is no easy means of escape. As a result, sufferers of agoraphobia may avoid public and/or unfamiliar places. In severe cases, the sufferer may become confined to their home, experiencing difficulty traveling from this "safe place."

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ReedNotRed 09/28/2009

Do you feel (or know from experience) if a service dog would be helpful for a university student with agoraphobia, and social anxiety?

Thx soo much in advanced

Justonekitty 09/29/2009

Hmm. I don't know, but I would think that if you weren't physically impaired there would be alot of questions. For someone with Social Phobia all the attention would make the situation worse. For agoraphobia no SP it may help. Just my opinion. I don't like going anywhere without someone. I think it would be comforting to have that support.

deleted_user 09/29/2009

I know a lady that has a Corgi trained as a service dog and he goes everwhere with her. She recently talked about service dogs and your rights to take them anywhere at a mental health conference. I would think it would be comforting to have one along with me where ever I went. They would have to be accepted at your school the same as a seeing eye dog.

sobe 09/29/2009

this is weird, I've been checking out info on service dogs recently and while I haven't found a lot of info yet, there ARE service dogs for people with agoraphobia.
From what I've found so far, it costs a lot to train a service dog and as they don't know what type of service the dog will be used for, they are mostly large breeds.
This site I found shows that small dogs, specially the Papillon, is ideally suited as a service dogs for agoraphobics.
here is the info I found on that: http://www.papillonclub.org/papservicedog.html

Also, if you find a dog with a good temperament who is not a fraidy dog, then you can train him/her yourself to specifically what you need. thats what I'm looking at right now
here is more info on that , it was recommended to me to start with that website: http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/%20Dog1/levels.html

As I find more info I'll share it with you guys here, but it is a real option to have a service dog! it might just give us the freedom we are looking for!

deleted_user 09/29/2009

I like the idea too- I know I couldn't stand the attention a dog would bring. I like to be not noticed. Dogs are very good at home though and I am sure cats too- they don't know what a dweeb I am. But at least people would only talk about the helping dog- and maybe ignore the person that would be good.

Janvier 10/06/2009

I have noticed that I am so relaxed & unself-conscious when I come across a dog. I usually avoid being noticed but when I see someone with a dog I naturally interact. I do not have a dog myself because I'm afraid of the commitment & long term responsibility.

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