A SURE SIGN THAT MILLENNIALS
are bucking the stigma of mental health is
the current popularity of emotional support
animals (ESAs). More than just your
average pet, an ESA (often a dog or cat,
but possibly a chicken, rabbit or, yes, even
a pig) helps their owner cope with
2019-grade stress and anxiety.
There’s singer Ariana Grande, who,
when faced with criticism of her new
companion, a pig named Piggy Smalls,
tweeted: “SHE’S AN EMOTIONAL
SUPPORT PIG I NEED HER.” Then there’s
Lena Dunham and her “happy zoo”. “I’m the
kind of anxious that makes you like, ‘I’m not
going to be able to come out tonight,
tomorrow night or maybe for the next 67
nights,’” she has said of her paralysing
anxiety disorder. After a series of medical
issues — including a hysterectomy, in 2017,
at the age of 31, and the removal of her left
ovary a year later — she added three
Sphynx cats, Candy, Irma and LouLou, to
her collection of pets.
It’s not surprising that the popularity
of ESAs is on the rise. Emotional support
animals have been known to
assist people who suffer from severe
depression, generalised anxiety disorder,post-traumatic stress disorder and many
other serious conditions on the spectrum of
mental illness. According to the Black Dog
Institute, one in five Australians experience
a mental illness in any year, and half of us
will experience a mental illness in our
lifetime. As anyone who’s been triggered
by the horrors on their newsfeed can attest,
we’re living in tumultuous times.
ESAs are fast becoming mainstream.
Last year, Townsville Airport teamed up
with local organisation Sensitive
Companions to bring a therapy dog into
the terminal to help soothe anxious
travellers. Therapy dogs are also popping
up in hospitals, courtrooms and schools.
The trend is booming in the US, where
airlines noted that between 2016 and
2017, there was a more than 50 per cent
increase in the number of passengers flying
with their own ESAs. Stories, like that of
a woman travelling with her duck (dressed
in red shoes and a Captain America
nappy), are raising awareness of ESAs,
while breaking down the taboo of
mental illness.
Why are so many people
turning to animals for the extra
support they need? Melanie
Jones, a psychologist at Lead The
Way, a Melbourne-based animal-
assisted therapy organisation,
says the reason is more of us are
living in isolation. “There is a rise in
single-person households and
many people are delayingparenthood. Psychologically, animals
are meeting our basic need for
attachment and connection. They’re
providing people with a reason to live, in
some cases.”
As yet, not much research has been
done into the benefits of ESAs, but several
studies have detailed the perks of
spending time with pets. “People feel
happier, calmer, more trusting and less
stressed,” explains Jones. When it comes
to finding the right animal for the job, she
says it’s a very individual process: “Many
people have found their ESA by accident.”
This was the case for Dunham and Bowie,
a Yorkshire Terrier she inherited from a
friend. When Bowie died last year,
Dunham took to Instagram to pay tribute,
writing “[Bowie] made me feel safe and
strong in a sea of change and reminded
me that joy needn’t be diminished by
a bunch o’ imperfect body parts.”
The law in Australia doesn’t yet
recognise ESAs (they’re considered pets,
unlike assistance dogs, which are medical
aids). However, you can ask a GP or
mental health professional to document
the role your animal plays in your life,
which can prove useful if you want to
bring your ESA to a public place or if your
landlord doesn’t allow pets. Of course, if
you want to take to the skies, you’ll need
to check with the airline first, and if your
ESA is a duck, squirrel or miniature horse,
be ready to field a lot of requests for
#animalselfies from fellow passengers.E“Animals are
meeting
our basic
need for
attachment
and
connection”EMOTIONAL SUPPORT
ANIMALS make their
humans calmer,
happier and better
able to cope with lifeIgetby
with a
little help
@lenadunham@arianagrandeSELFWords: Elle McClure; Cat Rodie; Elle McClure. Photography: We Are The Rhoads/Trunk Archive/Snapper Images