Dealing with the stress

As I may have stated in a previous post, I am taking the semester off from college due to financial issues as well as mental health issues.  I was diagnosed with PTSD from childhood trauma and it has been causing issues ever since for me, in my personal life, education, and work. On some days, it isn't an issue at all and I can enjoy life.  On other days, however, I can hardly function.  One day, Aylin may say something that is funny and doesn't cause a single issue.  The next day it may act as a trigger and sent me into a full-blown panic attack.  This obviously is not a healthy situation for anyone and Aylin has requested (and BF has agreed) that I should try to spend the semester off working on improving my mental health as well as crafts in an effort to start a crafting business.  After some research, I may have come up with an idea to greatly reduce panic attacks and anxiety. 

Some people have what are called psychiatric service dogs.  These are dogs which are trained to help people with psychiatric illnesses, such as PTSD or autism.  These dogs are considered the same as seeing eye dogs or seizure-detecting dogs and are allowed anywhere their handler can go.  There are also animals called Emotional Support Animals.  These are animals which are not trained beyond house breaking and "public manners". These animals are not covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and are only protected in housing situations.  Now, both Aylin and BF do NOT like dogs, so having a psychiatric service dog is not a possibility for me.  But a trained emotional support animal/psychiatric service not-dog has the possibility to help me with daily life.  I have a few "tells" before a panic attack fully hits and it would be easy to train an animal to notice and prevent or lessen the attacks.  I spoke to both Aylin and BF and they have both agreed that, assuming I can get the paperwork side completed, they fully support me getting a rabbit and training it to recognize my "tells".  I have done extensive animal training with dogs (my parents' dogs have commands that only I know that I taught them for emergencies) and have done a lot of studying on if it is possible to do. 

While I know this is a big thing to do, I can see how it would greatly help me...for instance, I am now willing to go to a therapy appointment in order to begin the process.  I will also be reaching out to the college after a little bit in an effort to be accommodated in having an animal accompany me to classes.  One of the issues I constantly had with classes before was trying to work up the courage to attend classes every day.  But I know from previous experience that having an animal with me helps to diffuse this anxiety.  According to my college's reasonable accommodation information, having an ESA with me in class is considered reasonable accommodation, seeing as it has no impact on the course, does not affect the health and safety of others, and my issues with anxiety greatly impede my ability to even attend classes, let alone learn in them. I will be beginning the process of finding a therapist soon and hopefully will be able to make progress on my mental health.