Today's View from Our Mobile Office

We're parked in our campsite at Old Quarry Ocean Adventures in Stonington, Maine. The location is to die for!

Waterfalls and Mental Health

 Here's another "today's view from our mobile office."  Have you noticed I like to park and work near water -- particularly moving water and more particularly waterfalls?  I find water very calming to see and even more so if I can hear it. It also helps me work productively on something that requires significant attention and focus, like writing. Today I was triggered  into an angry, hypomanic mood. The event that triggered me would have made anyone mad, but I got the anger with truly racing thoughts about what I should have said or done, what I will say or do,and all the incidents in both recent and ancient history where this person has treated me and others in a similar way --  not to mention crushing pressure in my chest.

 You can't eliminate all bipolar symptoms, but you can learn to deal with them. Here's what I did:

Don't Restrict the Right to Service Dogs!

I wrote a guest post on Maeve's blog the other day.  We keep running into well-meaning people who think the ADA should restrict service dogs by requiring certification and/or professional training.  Here's why that's not true:  http://servicepoodle.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-professional-training-or.html

Today's view from our mobile office. Waterfalls are natural air conditioners!

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Service Dog on the Trail



Maeve and NY Mountain Laurel along the Appalachian Trail

Hiking is the primary reason why I decided to get a service dog. Memory and attention problems caused by my illness and past treatments have made it much less safe for me to be out in the woods by myself, but hiking was very helpful in controlling my bipolar disorder and anxiety. On a good day, I'm quite competent in the woods. On a bad day I might tend to make wrong turns because I'm not paying attention to the trail markers. On a really bad day I don't make short-term memories for a while. This means I could end up in the middle of nowhere and not even remember anything I walked by. Worse still, I don't always perceive that I'm having a bad day until I realize I've screwed up.

May SPOT Outdoors Report

This was NOT the best month for outdoor activities  (unending rain, scores of bloodthirsty ticks, tornado warnings, migraines, and family troubles), but we got out every day except for one anyway.

We went to state parks, a national forest, and rivers in three states. We saw dozens of varieties of wildflowers (including two varieties of wild orchids), encountered innumerable birds (including a black vulture who was quite interested in Maeve and whom Maeve decided to chase), gathered 11 pounds of morel mushrooms,  and visited waterfalls (all that rain had to be good for something).  On days where the weather was too bad, I was too sick (or too lazy), or we weren't organized enough to go out and do something more interesting we played outside with our favorite toy--a Kong Frisbee.

The effect? It was a difficult month and full of triggers .While I suffered a fair amount of anxiety, my moods were more under control than in any month in the years since my illnesses left me unable to work. I even had some symptom-free days--a real novelty.

May SPOT Outreach Report

Good News: In the first month (roughly) we were able to add 43 businesses in 4 states to Maeve's Business Honor Roll and more than half earned a Two Paws Up.  We had only one unpleasant incident and even that was just annoying. 

Good News: We happened upon at least a few people in three states with psychiatric disabilities who didn't know they had the right to have emotional support animals (pets) in no-pets housing without deposits or fees. (We only count those who disclose to us that they or a family member suffer from a mental illness so it may have been significantly more.)

Good News: Despite everything that went wrong, we had a good interview on Dog Works Radio. Read all about it and/or listen to it.

Good News: We talked to many people in grocery stores, restaurants, malls, parks, and on trails in four states.  Almost always we disclosed that Maeve is a psychiatric service dog. Often we disclosed that Joanne suffers from bipolar disorder and a slew of anxiety disorders. Usually we talked to people about rights under federal laws to emotional support animals and to psychiatric service dogs. In addition to getting the word out about these rights, this serves to fight stigma. We also remind people that they almost certainly know a number of people with psychiatric disabilities.

Good News: We attended the Annual Canine Convention for Autism in Montgomery sponsored by and New York State Mental Health Association and a Candlelight Vigil for Health and Wellness in Torrington, CT sponsored by Advocacy Unlimited, the NW Region of CT's Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and Primetime House.

Business Honor Roll

We've decided it's time we started celebrating the very large number of businesses that treat a psychiatric service dog / handler team appropriately.  As we continue the Service Poodle Outreach/Outdoors Tour, we'll be updating this Honor Roll with more businesses and recording the successes of our return visits to places already on the Honor Roll.

We Break Murphy's Law in Our Internet Radio Debut

We made our first virtual stop on the Service Poodle Outreach/Outdoors Tour yesterday.  We had a great interview on Dog Works Radio, with Michele, a service dog trainer from Boulder, and Robert, an animal behaviorist, in Anchorage.  Literally an entire continent apart, cell phone and internet technology brought us together.  There was also a fourth participant, but he was silent.  Murphy, of Murphy's Law (everything that can go wrong will), demonstrated his presence throughout the interview without having to say a word.  However, his many attempts to hijack the interview failed.  We had a great time and it's a good show.  Listen to it and let us know what you think.

Here's what Murphy threw at us:

As I searched for the body of my service dog . . .

She was not responding to my calls. Enough time had passed that fear of the two dogs who had bullied her into panicy flight would have subsided enough for her to seek me. She'd not been alone this long since she was 7 months old and she needed me almost as much as I needed her. I knew it was time to start combing the underbrush, looking for an unconscious or dead body.  

SPOT Update: We'll be on Dog Works Radio!

We'll be interviewed on Dog Works radio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dogworks) on Sunday, May 22.  This will also be available as a podcast and we'll post a link to the podcast when it becomes available.

Candlelight Vigil, Torrington CT, Wed., May 4, 2011

Candlelight Vigil for Hope and Wellness at Town Hall with one of our favorite speakers: Probate Judge Magistrali.  We'll be there with other Advocacy Unlimited people.

First Date for SPOT! Sunday, May 1, 2011, Montgomery, NY

 To kick off  the Service Poodle Outreach/Outdoors Tour, Maeve and Joanne will participate in::

See SPOT; see SPOT run

Beginning May 1, 2011, Maeve and her human, Joanne Shortell, will  formalize their campaign to educate people about the rights of people with psychiatric disabilities to emotional support animals and to service dogs,  to fight stigma, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of non-medical interventions in diminishing the symptoms of Joanne's bipolar disorder. The campaign is called SPOT -- short for Service Poodle Outreach/Outdoors Tour. Joanne and Maeve will be going to as many places as possible to talk to people about these issues. In addition,  they'll try to get outdoors as much as possible to demonstrate the positive effects of nature, exercise, and her service dog's assistance on Joanne's bipolar disorder.