Specially trained service dogs helped ease PTSD symptoms in U.S. military veterans in that the researchers hope will help expand options for service members.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provides to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and runs a . The VA can prescribe service dogs to certain veterans diagnosed with a visual, hearing or substantial mobility impairment, including eligible veterans with PTSD, and will associated with having a service dog.
The agency continues to review the research 鈥渢o evaluate the effectiveness of service dogs,鈥� said VA press secretary Terrence Hayes, 鈥渁nd we are committed to providing high-quality, evidence-based care to all those who served.鈥�
Study co-author Maggie O鈥橦aire, of the University of Arizona鈥檚 veterinary college, said one of the researchers' goals was 鈥渢o bring evidence behind a practice that appears to be increasingly popular, yet historically did not have the scientific base behind it."
For the study, service dogs were provided by K9s For Warriors, a nonprofit organization that matches trained dogs with veterans during a three-week group class. The dogs are taught to pick up a veteran鈥檚 physical signs of distress and can interrupt panic attacks and nightmares with a loving nudge.
Researchers compared 81 veterans who received service dogs with 75 veterans on the waiting list for a trained dog. PTSD symptoms were measured by psychology doctoral students who didn't know which veterans had service dogs.
After three months, PTSD symptoms improved in both groups, but the veterans with dogs saw a bigger improvement on average than the veterans on the waiting list. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open.
It wasn't clear from the study whether spending time with any dog would have had the same effect. (About 40% of the veterans in both groups owned pet dogs.) And all the veterans in the study had access to other PTSD treatments.
Service dogs should be considered complementary and not a standalone therapy, O'Haire said.
鈥淲hen you add it to existing medical practices, it can enhance your experience and reduce your symptoms more,鈥� she said.
PTSD is more than civilians, the VA says, affecting as many as 29% of Iraq war veterans over their lifetimes. Symptoms include nightmares, flashbacks, numbness or the feeling of being constantly on edge.
"I would wake up in the middle of the night, almost nightly, in a pool of sweat," said Dave Crenshaw, who served with the Army National Guard in Iraq and was diagnosed with PTSD in 2016 while working undercover in law enforcement. Antidepressants helped with some symptoms, he said, but he still felt numb.
The 41-year-old veteran met his service dog, a pointer-black lab mix named Doc, in 2019. He immediately felt what he described as "joy and wholesomeness. It鈥檚 just an overwhelming feeling of 鈥楬ey, everything鈥檚 going to be OK.鈥欌��
Doc senses when he's upset, often before he notices himself, and come close, Crenshaw said. Today, Crenshaw is no longer taking antidepressants and is enjoying retirement from the military and law enforcement. He gives Doc credit for getting his life back on track.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the greatest medicine with the least amount of side effects,鈥� Crenshaw said.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute鈥檚 Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Carla K. Johnson, The Associated Press
