Psych relief with puppies
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Five-year-old Lexy is a therapy dog who helps US soldiers with post-traumatic stress at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. [Photo by Alex Sanz/Associated Press] |
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Animal-assisted treatment can calm patients, make their appointments more enjoyable. Lolita C. Baldor reports.
After three deployments to Iraq and three to Afghanistan, Staff Sergeant Dennis Swols is agitated, prone to bouts of anger and unable to really talk about his time on the battlefield.
But as Swols sits in a small office in the Robinson Health Clinic at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, his hand drops to the furry head beside him and his mood brightens. Settled at his feet, Lexy, a 5-year-old German shepherd, gives Swols a few moments of distraction.
It's her job. And, according to Swols, she's good at it.
"I have a hard time talking to people about my deployments and everything," says Swols, who is with the 82nd Airborne's 4th Brigade Combat Team.
After taking part in the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the march into Baghdad in 2003, he's been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress.
"But having her here, I just pet Lexy. Or I'm just sitting here and we won't talk about deployments. We'll just (talk) about the dog ... My day is better every time I come in."
For 82nd Airborne psychiatrist Major Christine Rumayor, Lexy is a partner, a conversation starter and a living, breathing medical tool that can calm a patient and make a therapy appointment a little more enjoyable.
