NEWS AND VIEWS: A woman, Amber Skylar, who served in the US military, having enlisted in the mid ’80s, developed PTSD because of sexual harassment and assaults throughout her military career. She said that she knew that she was a female when she was in the army. I guess what she means is that her male colleagues constantly reminded her of that fact and in the process abused her and undermined her psychologically.
She left the army 30 years ago and carried with her an invisible wound. She says that she is quite able to live indoors for three or five days at a time in her home in Montana as she appeared to have become quite reclusive. It also appears that she decided to take action to remedy her psychological problems and with the help of the Canine Companions for Independence organisation, a non-profit that provides service dogs for those in need such as veterans with PTSD. She adopted service dog Arbor who is trained to assist people with PTSD.
She’s delighted. Amber says that she now has to go outside because Arbor needs to go outside as dogs do which is great for her. She says that her dog companion is like a medicine. She’s gained independence, freedom and social life. She has grown she says thanks to Arbor. She teaches yoga online. It seems to me that living with a service dog she has come to terms with her mental issues and describes her dog as a badge of honour. The video gives you an opportunity to hear her story in her own words.
