Scott Alexander (host, Astral Codex Ten)

Welcome to the Astral Codex X podcast for the 9th of May, 2024.

Title, The Emotional Support Animal Racket.

This is an audio version of Astral Codex X, Scott Alexander's Substack.

If you like it, you can subscribe at astralcodex10.substack.com.

If you're from a country that doesn't have emotional support animals, here's how it works.

Sometimes, places ban or restrict animals.

For example, an apartment building might not allow dogs.

Or an airline might charge you money to transport your cat.

But the law requires them to allow service animals, for example, guide dogs for the blind.

A newer law also requires some of these places to allow emotional support animals, that is, animals that help people with mental health problems like depression or anxiety.

So, for example, if you're depressed, but having your dog nearby helps make you feel better, then a landlord has to let you keep your dog in the apartment.

Or if you're anxious, but petting your cat calms you down, then an airline has to take your cat free of charge.

Clinically and scientifically, this is great.

Many studies show that pets help people with mental health problems.

Depressed people really do benefit from a dog who loves them.

Anxious people really do feel calmer when they hold a cute kitten.

Legally, it's a racket.

In order to benefit from these rules, you need for a psychiatrist to write you an emotional support animal letter, in quotes, saying that your pet is actually an emotional support animal.

In theory, the psychiatrist should evaluate you carefully using their vast expertise to distinguish between an emotional support animal and a normal pet.

In practice, nobody has a rubric for this evaluation that makes sense.