Dog helps student keep anxiety issue in check

Service dog Violet helps Therynn Ibert deal with her anxiety in classes at Lee College.

“I have severe anxiety and depression. I’ve had anxiety for most of my life, and then I had this really bad breakup. I also was feeling a lot of stress about finishing in the top 10 of my class.

“I was part of the IMPACT (Early College High School) program, and I was in seven classes. Out of the classes I was taking here (at Lee College), I ended up dropping all but two. In one of those I managed a C, and I got an incomplete in the other. It was just way too stressful. For some reason, the classroom setting really messed me up. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t do anything.

“Then the start of this semester was really, really difficult for me. But after I was prescribed a psychiatric service dog and Violet started coming to school with me, it’s made a big difference.

“We’ve had Violet for 10 years, so she’s seen me when I start getting anxious. When I take her to class, if there’s an extra chair, I pull it close and have her sit next to me. She just lies there and chills. Whenever she senses that I’m about to have an anxiety attack or start panicking, she’ll get my attention. She’ll nose my arm or put her paws up on the table. That helps pause me and bring me back.

“She’s still a service dog in training. We’re still working on her leash manners and getting her to settle down at times. But I don’t know what I’d do without her right now.”

— Therynn Ibert