Before reading on, however, please note that, while many of the most common conditions that qualify people for an emotional support animal are listed, these are not the only qualifying conditions for an ESA. As long as you can get a doctor or other health professional to write and sign a letter attesting that you have a disability that impairs your ability to live independently for which an emotional support animal would mitigate the symptoms of that disability causing that impairment, you are allowed to have an ESA.
Qualifying Condition for ESA
General Anxiety Disorder
An ESA could help ameliorate much of the general anxiety a person with General Anxiety Disorder can experience throughout the day.
Social Anxiety Disorder
An ESA could help a person with Social Anxiety Disorder to overcome the fears associated with social interaction and increase a person’s self-confidence.
Panic Disorder
An ESA could help calm a person suffering from Panic Disorder, whether reducing the impact and duration of a present panic attack or helping to prevent such attacks from even occurring. Often, an ESA can accomplish this objective merely by its presence.
Fears and Phobias
An ESA can help a person with Phobias or Fears — be they of heights, the dark, open spaces, crowds or social situations — to ease the stress these intense emotional experiences can provoke.
Depression
An ESA can help give a person with Depression the motivation to get up from bed each morning. An ESA can also help raise such a person’s spirits and keep him or her from ever feeling too down. When symptoms of depression are unavoidable, an ESA can at least help comfort the person experiencing them.
Bipolar Disorder
An ESA can be a consistent source of reliable companionship and unconditional affection no matter what a person with Bipolar Disorder’s energy or activity level or mood. In times of extreme or rapidly changing mental and emotional states, an ESA can help ground a person by providing that constancy and stability a person may be unable to provide for him or herself in a given moment.
Impulse-control Disorder
The comfort and adoration of an ESA can help a person with Impulse-control Disorder to reign in those impulses and moderate the urges overwhelming him or her.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
While an ESA can’t necessarily prevent a person with OCD from engaging in obsessive-compulsive behaviors, an ESA could mitigate those behaviors, helping the person to relax and feel comforted while undergoing the experience.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Whether the symptoms occur in the form of nightmares, paralyzing flashbacks or any other symptoms, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can be ameliorated by the mere presence of an ESA. Often, simply having a trusty companion by one’s side can help to keep the worst of PTSD symptoms at bay.
Seasonal Affective Disorder
An ESA can provide a much-needed sense of stability and continuity during the changing of the seasons. As the weather and temperature changes, the environment and activities outdoors and in change, a reliable, constant companion can be an immense comfort.
Postpartum Depression
An ESA can be a helpful bridge for women between giving birth and getting on with life.
An emotional
support animal living with you in your home
To get permission from your landlord or housing provider to have an emotional support animal living with you in your home, you need only have a letter from your medical provider stating that you have a disability, that the symptoms of your disability impair your ability to perform certain necessary life activities and that the presence of an emotional support animal can help make those challenges easier to endure and possibly overcome.
This letter, often referred to as a “prescription letter”, gives you permission to have an ESA live in your housing with you, according to the Fair Housing Act, without being charged additional pet deposits or fees by your landlord or rental company.
Getting an ESA for Your Qualifying Condition
You can designate a pet of yours to be that emotional support animal. Your housing provider cannot ask for further details about the nature or effects of your disability. Registration with Certifymypet.com provides 24/7 online verification of your ESA at verificationesa.com and landlord hotline 833 372 2378
Still Not Sure If You Qualify and What are the Next Steps to Make Your Animal an ESA?
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