Service Dog for Amorelle

My name is Amorelle Perales. I am 15 years old. I am currently in search of a psychiatric therapy dog to help cope with my disabilities. I am now reaching out to the online community to try to raise the funds for one. A psychiatric dog would be my saving grace.

At the age of 11, I was diagnosed with several severe and at times debilitating mental health disorders: severe depression, panic disorder, schizophrenia, self-harm, and an eating disorder. I have also struggled with self-harm and dissociation. The depression I feel is so deep that it significantly restricts my ability to function fully, at times the darkness completely engulfs me. There are days when I can't bring myself out of the bed and tend to my daily needs such as brushing my teeth, showering, eating breakfast, exercising, ect. Some days I feel so alone in my sadness and I will come home from school and go straight to bed and cry. I have sleepless nights due to my panic attacks, sleep paralysis, and hallucinations. As of right now, due to my anxiety, attending school alone is near impossible for me. The only place I feel safe is my house, I always need a “safe person” to come with me to do things- and this has been straining on not only my wellbeing but also those around me. My mental health diagnoses are multi-faceted and require an incredible amount of discipline on my part & support from my family. Unfortunately this isn't always enough to assist me in getting through the everyday challenges without emotional set backs that are harder and more impactful than what the average 15 year old experiences.

I regularly see a therapist and a psychiatrist, and a full team of professionals, and have worked so hard to learn new coping skills to help me with my disorders. I am proud to say that I am learning to advocate for myself! I am working to break the stigma and shame for mental illness so that others that are suffering can feel like they can speak up without being judged. A psychiatric service dog could help me be strong enough to do this! The thought of being able to help others with mental illness, makes me have hope for my future!

Here are some of the many things a psychiatric therapy dog can do for me:

*Having a dog increases daily structure and can give a person a sense of purpose.
* I struggle to eat because of my eating disorder. Feeding time with my dog can help combat this.
*Having scheduled eating times for the dog can encourage me to eat as well.
* For my anxiety having a dog can bring an increased sense of safety and security.
*Psychiatric therapy dogs are trained to mitigate a psychiatric disability this may include providing environmental assessment (in such cases as paranoia or hallucinations), signaling behaviors (such as interrupting repetitive or injurious behaviors), reminding the handler to take medication, retrieving objects, guiding the handler from stressful situations, or acting as a brace if the handler becomes dizzy.