Question for those who specifically have social anxiety and a service dog. How did you compensate for your anxiety while out in public with your dog?
My social anxiety is different than most others. As a combat vet I have what is known as hypervigilant behavior. I am always classifying people around me, looking for possible threats. The more people the worse it gets. It is exhausting and leads to major panic attacks, which can lead to full-blown flashbacks.
While training Dougal I spent a lot of time having him place himself around me to either notify me when someone approached, create a space around me while out in public, heel toward my front to help open a path to walk, and even clear corners and rooms. Never did I think about the overall attention I would receive simply by having Dougal with me in public areas. It was a culture shock! So I had a service dog to help mitigate my social anxiety only to find that just having him with me was making it worse with so many eyes on us all the time.
It took time, but we got over it. I had to learn we were the proverbial unicorn; we were unique, or at least an ultra-rare sight for 99% of the population. People are going to look and watch, they are interested. So how to overcome my fears? Trust, understanding, and education.
My social anxiety is different than most others. As a combat vet I have what is known as hypervigilant behavior. I am always classifying people around me, looking for possible threats. The more people the worse it gets. It is exhausting and leads to major panic attacks, which can lead to full-blown flashbacks.
While training Dougal I spent a lot of time having him place himself around me to either notify me when someone approached, create a space around me while out in public, heel toward my front to help open a path to walk, and even clear corners and rooms. Never did I think about the overall attention I would receive simply by having Dougal with me in public areas. It was a culture shock! So I had a service dog to help mitigate my social anxiety only to find that just having him with me was making it worse with so many eyes on us all the time.
It took time, but we got over it. I had to learn we were the proverbial unicorn; we were unique, or at least an ultra-rare sight for 99% of the population. People are going to look and watch, they are interested. So how to overcome my fears? Trust, understanding, and education.
- Trust: I learned to fully trust Dougal's work. He is going to do his job, and for me he is helping me watch for threats. It took a few good alerts to reach this mark, but it happened.
- Understanding: I had to accept that all these people eye-balling me were not "sizing me up" but simply observing the wonderful dog at my side — something I also enjoyed.
- Education: The general public, as a whole, have very little knowledge about service dog teams. When asked, as long as I have time, I share with them my knowledge about the subject.
