Study shows service dogs prevent suicide, help treat PTSD among veterans

When you’re feeling down, some cuddles or playtime with a furry friend can often cheer you up.

It’s no different for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from horrific war zones.

That’s according to Alexandria Pavelich, a PhD student and researcher at the University of Saskatchewan.

She worked on a study to show just how much of an effect service dogs have on veterans.

The test followed four veterans over 16 months after their return home.

“These veterans specifically were dealing with problematic substance abuse — opioids, alcohol, things like that — as well as managing their PTSD symptoms,” Pavelich told Gormley this week.

While there are many methods of trying to treat those difficult problems, they didn’t seem to be working with these veterans.

“A lot of these veterans had been trying to access treatment and different forms of care for a number of years after their service ended, but things were not really helping or improving at all,” Pavelich said.

But then, things changed.

“When they got paired with a service dog … they started to completely turn around, not just in their substance use and some of the chronic pain and mental health issues, but also in terms of they were experiencing suicidality … and these veterans really spoke about how, once they had this dog in their life, they felt like their lives were saved,” Pavelich said.

“So we really just wanted to look at that direct correlation more closely, because nobody has really done that in the context of service dogs before.”

What exactly is it that dogs do that makes such a big difference?

Well, these are smart, well-trained dogs that can do a lot of impressive things.

“Maybe they’re out in public, they hear a loud noise and the veteran gets a bit triggered … because this loud noise reminds them of something that maybe happened in Afghanistan,” Pavelich said.

“The beautiful thing about when they have a dog is that the dog can already tune in sooner than the veteran can about what’s happening in their body on the nervous system level. So the dog will notify the veteran and be like, ‘Oh no, the veteran I’m working with is getting overwhelmed.’ The dog will literally help the veteran get to a safe space.”

But it doesn’t even have to be something that impressive on the dog’s end. Simply petting the dog can be a huge help.

“If a veteran starts petting a dog — and this applies to anybody — it really helps regulate their nervous system (and they) start to calm down … so maybe they don’t have a panic attack when they’re out in public,” Pavelich said.

The animals can also help out on a deep, emotional level.

“What I was looking at specifically in this research is the idea of mattering. These veterans, they were working in a very difficult context … and when they return to civilian life, they often feel like they are no longer making a difference or that they really matter in the same way as when they were in service,” she began.

“But once they got this dog, they (have) this sense of belonging, this feeling like they matter.”

That manifested in what could have been a tragic case.

“We had one veteran who spoke about how he had made plans to go and kill himself,” she said, the emotion evident in her voice.

“But he was sitting there with his dog that he had been working with for a number of months, and he couldn’t imagine leaving his dog behind … He’s like, ‘I can’t die. What’s going to happen to my dog?’ “