ATLANTA – Adopting a pet dog may prove a useful addition to treatment for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), helping to alleviate PTSD symptoms, depression and loneliness, according to research presented at the 2016 American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting.
In this pilot trial, researchers led by Stephen Stern, M.D., adjunct professor in the Department of Psychiatry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and research investigator at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System in San Antonio, compared a control group with a group of veterans with PTSD who adopted a dog as a supplement to usual care. The participants were veterans in active treatment for PTSD.
The participants were randomly placed into either immediate dog adoption group (dog group) or a three...
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