When most people think of the mentally ill, we tend to think in terms of the extreme -- Schizophrenia, severe depression, manic episodes, and suicide. The reality is that mental illness, like any other condition, is on a continuum. Certainly, there are the extremes, but there are also cases of mental illness that are not so obvious. Both in people and in dogs. We don’t have psychiatric hospitals for dogs. Dogs showing signs of severe mental illness are usually euthanized. The dogs who are not euthanized are generally condemned to a life of solitude. They are tied or left in the back yard, too dangerous, too anxious, or too destructive to live within the family. Dogs at the other end of the continuum, those with less severe symptoms, are often labeled by veterinarians and dog trainers as “hyper”, “over reactive”, “fear biters” and “shy to the extreme”. A more accurate label could be, “mentally ill”.
How does mental illness manifest in dogs? Do dogs suffer the same symptoms as do people? To answer that question, let’s look at the source of the mental illness, the dog’s brain. A dog’s brain is set up similarly to a human’s brain when it comes to the electrical impulses and chemistry responsible for certain functions. This is why the drugs used to combat mental illness in people are largely effective when used on dogs showing similar signs of brain chemistry problems. What are the signs of mental illness in dogs?
An imbalance in brain chemistry, whether it be due to chronic stress, disease, or genetic factors, can bring on symptoms ranging from the severe (extreme, unprovoked aggression) to mild, (sensitivity to loud noises such as thunder and fireworks). When owners and trainers try and fix the problems treating the symptoms as a behavioral issue without addressing the brain chemistry imbalance they will most likely fail. Unfortunately, this failure usually results in the dog being euthanized, labeled as incorrigible or sentenced to a life with episodes of misery -- the dog being routinely punished for behaviors he can not control. Like any other disease, proper treatment is the key to success. If the cause of the problem is a brain chemistry imbalance, treating the dog as a behavioral problem will not work.
It is my hope that people owning, treating, and training dogs that show signs of mental illness will be more open to the idea of treating the cause instead of just the symptoms. Dogs who are over-reactive, hyper vigilant, severely anxious, suffer from separation anxiety, or are sensitive to loud noises may have a brain chemistry problem. This should especially be suspected if all traditionally used corrective measures are ineffective. Although we should not automatically assume that all transgressions by our canine companions are biochemical in nature, we need to keep an open mind. Not doing so could result in unnecessary punishment, banishment, or euthanasia.
