Emotional Support Animals (ESA)

Emotional Disabilities:
The need for an Emotional Support Animal
A person with an emotional disability qualifies to have an emotional support animal (ESA), and ESAs are protected under federal law.

If you have an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) or are thinking of registering your animal, you must get a letter of prescription from a licensed mental health professional. If your therapist or psychiatrist is unwilling to prescribe an ESA or if you aren't currently seeing a therapist or psychiatrist, click here to get a letter of prescription from a licensed therapist.

It's a fact that many people have difficulty coping with what use to be for them, normal day to day situations. Most often, something in their life experiences have contributed to an emotional or mental inability to function or respond in a healthy and safe way to normal events, situations, or interactions.

Emotional disabilities include, but aren't limited to:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Panic Attacks
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Personality Disorders

Examples of symptoms of an emotional/mental disability include, but are not limited to:

1. Feelings of depression or anxiety that last for more than a few days.
2. Difficulty or an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships.
3. Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
4. A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
5. A tendency to develop physical symptoms or irrational fears associated with otherwise normal life problems or situations.
6. An inability or intense discomfort interacting with others in a public or private setting.

If any of the above describes your condition, then you qualify as emotionally disabled. Many emotionally disabled persons find that the presence of a beloved animal, used as an emotional support animal, significantly reduces or eliminates the symptoms brought on by an emotional disability.

Although having a letter of prescription isn't necessary to register your animal with national Service Animal Registry, you must have a letter from a licensed mental health therapist prescribing the use of an emotional support animal to ameliorate your symptoms in order to take your ESA in public places, including flying with your ESA. If you are unable to get this type of letter on your own, click here to get a letter of prescription for an Emotional Support Animal.