FEATURES STARTING TO LAUGH By Judith Broug, Co-founder, Service Dogs UK
These touching words are from Mark, who is Army veteran of 10 years who is struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He also has physical disabilities due to being injured in service. A lot of days are dark, with little feeling or emotion, some are fi lled with fl ashbacks and exhausting sleepless nights due to nightmares. This is the cost of his service to us; his experiences which cannot be unseen and unheard do not go away now that he is away from the front line.
Mark, however, has taken the huge step of taking part in the PTSD assistance dog programme run by the charity Service Dogs UK, where he is training Jerry, his own assistance dog under the watchful
eye of professional dog trainers. Already he is benefi tting mentally from taking part, bonding with his dog and learning new skills.
Life is a struggle for those with PTSD, it is a daily challenge just to get through the day. However, dogs can help mitigate some of symptoms related to PTSD – this is why this programme works. Dogs offer unconditional love and friendship without judgement or the need for words. There is a valid scientifi c basis behind the idea that dogs can play such a meaningful part for PTSD sufferers. The interaction between man and dog releases oxytocin, a ‘feel good’ hormone that reduces stress and anxiety. Research suggests that oxytocin increases trust and is often called the social hormone, it
helps us to engage with one another and it makes us feel safe. So when we think of some of the symptoms linked to PTSD such as social detachment, depression, paranoia, trust issues (amongst others) it is easy to understand why this chemical bond is so important!
Mark is on a very big journey and it is still early days, but he reports that “it really is making a difference to me”.
Assistance dog, Ajax.
10
Summer 2016
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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