A UK veteran who was having a hard time dealing with depression, regardless of medication prescribed to him by his doctor, has started a charity called Veterans with Dogs to provide assistance dogs for veterans with trauma-related mental health conditions.
Ex-soldier Craig MacLellan, who dealt with suicidal thoughts while suffering from post-tramautic stress disorder (PTSD), found that the best treatment was comfort from his dogs.
MacLellan started Veterans with Dogs in 2012 with the help of Combat Stress and two universities. The charity provides dogs to veterans to help get them out of bed in the morning. MacLellan told The Independent his assistance dog, Boo, even leads him to his medication in the morning.
"When I wake from a nightmare, for instance, I just shout out the word 'light' and she switches it on," MacLellan told The Independent of his dog Boo. "And if I sense a panic attack coming on, I have a safe command that means I can kneel down and she will jump up and put her paws round my neck, a physical sensation that helps me calm down quickly, wherever I am. She has a means of reducing my hypervigilence and if I'm in a public place where I can't cope, I give her the command to get me out.
"Thirdly, there's the comfort factor. Indeed, we know from research that physically touching not just a dog but any animal can release good endorphins."
The role dogs play in the lives of veterans is crucial. In many parts of the world, dogs are often used to decrease stress and depression.
Now two years later, MacLellan is bringing dogs into the lives of other veterans to help keep them out of depressions as well.
"Looking back now to that awful day in 2007 [when McLellan contemplated committing suicide], it seems incredible that a dog saved me," MacLellan told Independent. "Yet that's what happened. Now, five more veterans have benefited, saying their dogs have had a life-changing effect."