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Help Nia Adopt a Service Dog to with her cPTSD
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$12,180 raised of $14.5K
159 donations
Hi, my name is Nia and I am a 28-year-old woman living in Nebraska.
I have suffered from CPTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder), Bipolar Disorder, an Eating Disorder, OCD, Anxiety, and Depression since childhood. I learned how to shove down my feelings and my trauma and push through life as if nothing was bothering me. And on the outside, I might look that way. On the inside most days, I’m struggling to cope with intense anxiety, depression, and other intrusive thoughts.
These manifest for me in the form of anxiety and panic attacks, vivid nightmares, and extreme hypervigilance. Psychiatric service dogs are able to be trained in a variety of tasks that can help to mitigate the lasting effects of all of these conditions. They are also able to help by bringing me medications and reminding me to eat when an alarm sounds.
Walter will help me greatly to combat these feelings in many different ways. He will be trained to apply deep pressure therapy to calm my nervous system when I’m having anxiety and panic attacks. Also, when having suicidal thoughts Walter will perform deep pressure therapy to help keep me safe. As I go into more intense EMDR therapy to combat the extensive trauma I experience as a kid and an adult Walter will accompany me and help me to approach this work safely.
The vivid nightmares I suffer with are something else that Walter will be trained to help me with. Many times these dreams leave me exhausted when I wake up because my sleep is not restful. Walter will learn over time how to sense my nightmares and will know to wake me up before my nightmares get to a terrifying level. This will help to calm me and allow me to sleep better.
Walter will be trained to help with the hyper-vigilance that I live with every day, as well. People coming up behind me without my knowing can set me off and leave me shaken for hours. Walter will block behind me in public to alert me to people coming up to me. This will help to reduce my anxiety in public.
Because I suffer from Bipolar Disorder and chronic depression, Walter will also help me to get outside daily and take a walk with him. He will be trained to nudge me until I get up and go walk with him. This will help my physical limitations as well as increase endorphins and my mood.
And also, Walter will alert me to times of the day when I need to maintain a routine. Such as taking my meds, eating meals, and taking time to rest. It’s extremely difficult maintaining these boundaries at times and having Walter there to alert me to them will help me greatly.
Walter is necessary in order to allow me to live a life where I am able to be present and focused in the world and with my family and friends. He will keep me safe and create a space where I can continue to work on my trauma in therapy and still be safe and calm.
Psychiatric Service Dogs - and service dogs in general - are very expensive. They go through a lot of intense training from the day they are born and are able to behave in ways that most pets are not, including public access. With all of this training and time, most dogs cost between $20,000-$30,000. Walter is a service dog that is currently living with the trainer who owns his mom. His mom, Kenzie, is a Diabetic Alert Service dog and the owner, Kierin, is a service dog trainer. Walter will cost me $10,000. This is significantly less than the cost through most other organizations and Walter could not be set up for success better than he is now. However, even though $10,000 is less than most other organizations, it’s still more money than I currently have available to me. And does not include the fees to travel to pick him up, fly back, get him start up gear, and get him settled in when I get back to Nebraska. I am going to be trying to get the money I need to bring Walter home through many different routes, but it will be difficult. I am asking for help to afford this life-changing service dog to help give me a chance to live my life to the fullest. Anything can and will help Walter come home with me in June.
Walter will be an invaluable part of my life and part of my healing and coping with these life-long conditions and I can’t wait for us to begin our journey together. Thank you so much for helping us begin our life together and helping this once-distant hope become a reality!
I have suffered from CPTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder), Bipolar Disorder, an Eating Disorder, OCD, Anxiety, and Depression since childhood. I learned how to shove down my feelings and my trauma and push through life as if nothing was bothering me. And on the outside, I might look that way. On the inside most days, I’m struggling to cope with intense anxiety, depression, and other intrusive thoughts.
These manifest for me in the form of anxiety and panic attacks, vivid nightmares, and extreme hypervigilance. Psychiatric service dogs are able to be trained in a variety of tasks that can help to mitigate the lasting effects of all of these conditions. They are also able to help by bringing me medications and reminding me to eat when an alarm sounds.
Walter will help me greatly to combat these feelings in many different ways. He will be trained to apply deep pressure therapy to calm my nervous system when I’m having anxiety and panic attacks. Also, when having suicidal thoughts Walter will perform deep pressure therapy to help keep me safe. As I go into more intense EMDR therapy to combat the extensive trauma I experience as a kid and an adult Walter will accompany me and help me to approach this work safely.
The vivid nightmares I suffer with are something else that Walter will be trained to help me with. Many times these dreams leave me exhausted when I wake up because my sleep is not restful. Walter will learn over time how to sense my nightmares and will know to wake me up before my nightmares get to a terrifying level. This will help to calm me and allow me to sleep better.
Walter will be trained to help with the hyper-vigilance that I live with every day, as well. People coming up behind me without my knowing can set me off and leave me shaken for hours. Walter will block behind me in public to alert me to people coming up to me. This will help to reduce my anxiety in public.
Because I suffer from Bipolar Disorder and chronic depression, Walter will also help me to get outside daily and take a walk with him. He will be trained to nudge me until I get up and go walk with him. This will help my physical limitations as well as increase endorphins and my mood.
And also, Walter will alert me to times of the day when I need to maintain a routine. Such as taking my meds, eating meals, and taking time to rest. It’s extremely difficult maintaining these boundaries at times and having Walter there to alert me to them will help me greatly.
Walter is necessary in order to allow me to live a life where I am able to be present and focused in the world and with my family and friends. He will keep me safe and create a space where I can continue to work on my trauma in therapy and still be safe and calm.
Psychiatric Service Dogs - and service dogs in general - are very expensive. They go through a lot of intense training from the day they are born and are able to behave in ways that most pets are not, including public access. With all of this training and time, most dogs cost between $20,000-$30,000. Walter is a service dog that is currently living with the trainer who owns his mom. His mom, Kenzie, is a Diabetic Alert Service dog and the owner, Kierin, is a service dog trainer. Walter will cost me $10,000. This is significantly less than the cost through most other organizations and Walter could not be set up for success better than he is now. However, even though $10,000 is less than most other organizations, it’s still more money than I currently have available to me. And does not include the fees to travel to pick him up, fly back, get him start up gear, and get him settled in when I get back to Nebraska. I am going to be trying to get the money I need to bring Walter home through many different routes, but it will be difficult. I am asking for help to afford this life-changing service dog to help give me a chance to live my life to the fullest. Anything can and will help Walter come home with me in June.
Walter will be an invaluable part of my life and part of my healing and coping with these life-long conditions and I can’t wait for us to begin our journey together. Thank you so much for helping us begin our life together and helping this once-distant hope become a reality!