K9s for Warriors dog Lady Cameo and veteran Charlie comfort each other. When you hear the phrase “wounds of war,” you might think of physical ones, such as third-degree burns, the loss of a limb or broken bones. However, many of those who selflessly served our country struggle in silence.
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center estimates that roughly 20 veterans take their own lives every day . The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reports around 20% of post-9/11 veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. That’s more than 700,000 veterans. While military members return home as heroes, they bring back invisible scars that stay with them long after their service.
Hyper-vigilance, panic attacks, depression, suicidal thoughts and feelings of hopelessness — these feelings become second nature to many veterans with PTSD and other invisible wounds. Everyday things that you do without a second thought become a major roadblock and are actively avoided.
Veterans often feel unsafe in grocery stores, at restaurants and in big crowds. They feel like strangers to family and friends. They lose interest in lifelong passions. They don’t recognize their own emotions or even themselves.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Many of the veterans we serve tell us that therapy and prescription medication — the usual treatments — didn’t work for them. It didn’t get them back to living life again, being present for their kids or leaving the house with ease.
This is often how they found their way to K9s for Warriors , many times as a last resort, eager to try something they haven’t tried before: getting a service dog.
While K9s For Warriors has seen firsthand the lifesaving impact of service dogs on over 1,000 veterans with PTSD, a first-of-its-kind National Institutes of Health-funded clinical trial on service dogs shows more definitive proof. The study, published in JAMA Network Open in June, found that veterans paired with service dogs saw a greater decrease in PTSD severity, diagnosis odds and other negative symptoms than those without a service dog.
The results revealed that veterans with service dogs had 66% lower odds of a PTSD diagnosis based on expert clinician […]
K9s for Warriors CEO: National study confirms how service dogs help veterans with PTSD
