- Hi, everyone, in today's video,
we are going to be speaking with Kody Green
about his experience having a service dog
for his schizophrenia.
Kody Green is a mental health advocate
who lives with schizophrenia himself,
and he has built a platform
of over 1.2 million followers on TikTok
and is growing his YouTube channel as well.
You can find him @schizophrenichippie.
We'll have links to his social platforms
in the description as well.
All right, so let's get into the interview with Kody.
So hi, Kody.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
It's so exciting to have you on the channel.
- Yeah, thank you for having me.
I really appreciate it.
- Yeah, so can you tell us a bit about who you are?
You have online platforms, schizophrenichippie.
Your primary platform is on TikTok,
but you are also on YouTube now, right?
- Yeah, absolutely.
So I started doing TikTok about two years ago.
I have over 1.2 million followers on there now.
I did just start YouTube last year
and now I'm trying to grow that page
as well as my Instagram.
- Yeah, it sounds like you're doing amazing advocacy work
for the schizophrenia community.
So thank you.
So when were you diagnosed?
You're diagnosed with schizophrenia, right?
- Yeah, my original diagnosis was before schizophrenia
was a spectrum
back when they were diagnosing it by the different types.
And so I was diagnosed with undifferentiated schizophrenia,
which, as you probably know,
means I showed signs of all the different types.
I was diagnosed at the age of 21.
I started having symptoms when I was about 19,
but unfortunately, due to a lack of willingness
to get tested for the illness
and a lack of wanting to get the help I needed,
I went several years without a formal diagnosis.
- Right, okay.
So in this video, we are primarily going to be talking
about your service dog, Luna.
So just a quick clarification,
is she a service dog or a therapy dog?
And can you tell us maybe what the difference is?
- Yeah, so Luna is a service dog.
She is trained specifically to help me
with several different aspects of my schizophrenia.
Whereas a therapy dog doesn't have to go
through certain licensing.
Therapy dogs can be more so used to help comfort people.
Whereas Luna is trained specifically to help with,
helping me identify hallucinations and prevent self-harm.
- Okay, okay, thanks.
How long have you had her?
- We have had Luna for about three years now.
- Okay, and has she always been a service dog for you
or did you have her before she became a service dog?
- In order to get a dog trained to be a service dog,
as soon as they hit eight weeks old,
they have to go through a trial period
where they test to see if they're able to perform
certain functions as a puppy
to ensure that they'd be able to do
what a service dog needs to do.
So the moment we got her,
we looked into getting her trained
specifically to help me with my schizophrenia symptoms.
- Wow, okay, cool.
I saw in one of your videos
that you typically only have her with you
when you're at home.
How come that is?
How come you don't bring her out with you as well?
- As someone who struggles
with a really serious mental illness
that is categorized also as a disability,
one of the things I wanted in my life
when I started regaining the ability to work
and regaining the independence I had
was to not have to rely on some of my coping mechanisms
while I was out in public,
and part of that being my service dog.
I really like the freedom and independence I get
from being able to go places.
And yes, I still do have symptoms occasionally,
but being able to be independent was a huge thing for me.
And so she primarily is trained to help me in the house,
and that's really the extent to which I need her.
Obviously, there's times
where it would be very nice to have her in public,
but in order for me to be able to feel more,
like I didn't need all these crutches
and for me to be able to feel
like a functioning person again,
I wanted to have that ability
to be able to be out on my own.
And although I think she would be helpful at times,
I really prefer being able to do things
without her in public.
- Cool, yeah.
So you said that you started the training process
when she was eight weeks old.
So what did the training, what did that entail?
Like what was the training like to train a service dog
for someone with schizophrenia?
- There's a lot of really basic training.
We actually brought someone in to help train her.
So there's a person in our area who trained service dogs
and they were brought in to help us train her
with first, basic listening, responding to her name,
you know, just simple commands like sit, lay down,
and then you go from there to training
for the specific need of the service dog.
- Cool, okay.
So what exactly is she trained for with you?
- So Luna helps with a few different things.
The first thing she helps with
is identifying hallucinations.
So if I think I'm having a hallucination,
if I have like a moment of clarity
where something doesn't make sense
or I have a thought like,
"Why is there another person in my house?
It should only be me and my wife here,"
I will actually ask her to greet the person.
So if there's someone there who may or may not be there,
I ask her to greet.
If they are there, she'll obviously approach them.
She'll greet them.
She'll let them pet her.
If they aren't there, she'll sit down
and she'll look up at me,
and at that time I know that the person isn't really there.
What?
Luna, greet.
Greet.
- Do you know any other ways
that service dogs can be trained
to help people who are living with schizophrenia?
- Yeah, she also helps with preventing self-harm.
So I don't know if you've ever struggled with this.
When I have really bad auditory hallucinations,
I've had a tendency to hit my face
or even scratch my face.
I have scarring from when my symptoms first started.
I did a lot of self-harm,
not on purpose, almost as an instinct.
I just when I was having really bad auditory hallucination,
I would hit my head, and I always wear glasses,
so I actually have permanent scarring on my face
from doing that.
And Luna helps me by preventing self-harm.
So she will, if I'm having symptoms
and I'm starting to hit myself,
she will actually put herself right in,
like right here,
so that I don't hit her
because my brain doesn't think about it
when it's me hitting myself.
But when she's there, for some reason,
I'm able to identify that I'm having an issue with self-harm
and I'm able to stop.
So she just helps ground me, I guess,
being able to prevent that harm that I'm doing to myself,
specifically hitting and scratching my face.
- I saw a video of her doing that for you on your page.
And, oh my gosh, I almost cried.
It was so sweet.
- So this is just an example
of how Luna helps me prevent self-harm.
So she's sitting down right now,
but just watch how she reacts when I start hitting myself.
Good girl.
It's been really emotional going through it
because I do have moments
where I like notice she's doing it.
And it's one of those things
where when I'm having symptoms,
it's really hard for me to identify.
So she can see the symptoms in me before I can,
and that's really, really special
to have a dog that's able to be able to help you
before you even realize you need the help.
- That's very cool that she can help you
have that level of insight into what's going on.
Very cool.
Can you share an experience or a particular story
about how Luna has helped you cope with your symptoms?
- Yeah, absolutely.
I actually was having symptoms outside of the home one time
where Luna had to help me,
and that was on a walk with her.
So I take her for walks regularly,
sometimes with my other dog and sometimes without.
I have another dog who is just old and chunky
and she doesn't really help with anything,
but we were out walking.
And sometimes when she's with my other dog,
she has a harder time understanding commands.
But in this specific scenario,
she identified that I was having issues
and right away went into service dog mode,
went into protector mode
and she was able to help me register
that the person I was talking to during this walk
wasn't really there.
So I had stopped.
I was talking to someone,
and I thought it was interesting
that my other dog who loves people
wasn't going up to this person.
So at that time,
I asked Luna to greet this person
and she was able to look up at me,
and then I recognized that there wasn't anyone there.
And so I was able to get home safely
before my symptoms got any worse.
And that's one of the times
where I thought maybe it would be good
to start having her around more places.
But like I said,
I just really wanted to have that independence with her.
But it really showed
that even outside of the comfort zone of the home,
she was able to perform the task she needed
to ensure my safety.
- That's really incredible.
And I don't know, it sounds like you guys
have a really special relationship, too.
So that's really cool.
- Yeah, she's a very hyper dog.
She's still fairly young.
So there's times where the training,
we have to reinforce it
just because with her being a more hyper breed,
she can get to a point where she gets really excitable.
But anytime I've needed her for my symptoms,
she really buckles down and is able to help.
And I've always had dogs,
but you hit it right on the head,
it's very special to have her at my house
and be able to call on her
when I'm really needing someone to help.
- Yeah.
So you mentioned that you had someone specifically come in
to help train her to become a service dog.
But I guess I'm just wondering if you can tell us more
about what that process is like?
You know, how did you go about finding this person?
And how much did it cost?
And, you know, it's more of the logistic side of that.
- Training a service dog is gonna be very different
depending on if you go through an individual,
if you go through a facility,
and where you live,
what's covered by insurance.
There's a lot of factors that go into that.
I try not to give out too many specifics
because what we did in our scenario
is gonna be different than what anyone else goes through.
But in our specific scenario,
we were able to find someone
who locally trains both regular dogs and service dogs.
And so this person was able to come in
and do all of the basic service dog training for her.
There's a whole bunch of certifications, licensing,
stuff like that you have to go through
because Luna was only gonna be helping me here at the home.
We skipped some of the steps we needed to
for her to come out in public with me,
some of that extra licensing,
because we knew that she was only gonna be really helping me
here in the home.
There are a lot of additional training
and steps you have to go through
if it's a service dog you're having with you everywhere.
And obviously, as it should be,
there's a lot of really important training
that service dogs have to go through
and there's a huge craze right now
for emotional support dogs,
which are great,
but they aren't necessarily service dogs
and having them in places they shouldn't be
can be really, really bad
for people who do have service dogs with them.
And so that's why, with Luna,
when I talk about her being a service dog,
I always emphasize she is trained as a service dog
but for the primary care at home.
Because if we want to bring her in public,
if we wanna bring her in places,
we could go get that licensing
but it's a lot more cost and a lot more training.
- Right.
So, yeah, I was just kinda wondering about the cost
because I'm sure a lot of people
who are living with schizophrenia
might be interested in this,
but I'm just wondering if that's a barrier
to having this kind of service.
So do you know if it's covered by insurance sometimes?
Or is it something that you have to pay out of pocket?
- So this is where it's gonna probably break down by state.
I was told by my psychiatrist
that we could get assistance with it.
There are grants and stuff you can get as well
for these types of service dogs.
It really depends on the severity of your illness.
And then also what is and isn't covered
by whichever insurance you have
and then how much you're able to pay out of pocket,
there are ton of factors that go into it.
And kinda why I said I don't go into the details too much
because I think it's really different
depending on the illness, the state you live in,
and what insurance company you have as well.
- Right.
So, you know, I've had a dog before,
in my childhood I guess,
but I kind of understand that it's a lot of work
to take care of a dog, you know?
And so I guess I'm wondering
if you ever have any difficulties
balancing taking care of Luna with taking care of yourself?
- I'm really lucky,
and my wife never gets enough credit
for all the help she does with me and my illness.
My wife does a lot of the care for Luna,
and I'll admit that right away
because she has been on top of that with both of our dogs.
It's really difficult for me like you said,
just to take care of myself.
My wife struggles with her own mental health issues
but she's been really amazing
about making sure the dogs get the care they need.
Obviously, I help when I can
because I'm not always having symptoms.
So I'll help with anything I can,
including walking them, getting them to the park.
But with Luna specifically, there's a lot of upkeep,
making sure that she's still responding
to different ways of helping me,
making sure that her training is still intact.
Because if she's unable to perform those tasks,
then we have to bring a trainer back in
to make sure that she's able to continue doing those.
So that's more the aspect I worry about,
is making sure that she's keeping up with the training.
Sometimes when I'm not having symptoms,
I'll try the responses
just to make sure she still is correctly able
to help me when I have issues.
- Right.
Well, thank you so much for sharing
all your experiences with Luna.
I guess to just kinda wrap it up,
would you recommend
for other people who are living with schizophrenia
to explore having a service dog?
- A hundred percent.
Talk to your psychiatrist, talk to your doctor.
Start looking into it.
'Cause like I said, it's a long, lengthy process,
but it is so much worth it.
Having Luna in my life has really changed my ability
to be comfortable in my home
and be able to relax a little bit
without constantly wondering
if the people around me are real,
if what's happening around me is real.
It allows me to be able to actually relax.
Because that's the thing with having a mental illness,
is you need to take time for yourself.
But if you're constantly afraid
that even in your own home you're having symptoms,
which for most people you spend most of your time at home,
that's where you're gonna have the most symptoms,
and so having Luna has allowed me to be able to relax,
be comfortable in my house,
and be able to function a little better day to day
even when I'm not home
because I had that opportunity to relax while I am home.
- I mean, that sounds like a really great way
to take care of yourself,
and I'm so glad that you have that in your life.
So thank you so much, Kody,
for sharing with us about your experiences
with having a service dog and your experiences with Luna.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you for being here.
- Yeah, thank you so much.
- So thank you so much again to Kody Green
for being interviewed with us
on the Living Well with Schizophrenia channel.
If you haven't found his social media platforms yet
@schizophrenichippie, make sure to check them out.
He's building some really amazing educational content
on both of his platforms, TikTok and YouTube.
If you'd like to see more videos like this one,
make sure to subscribe to our channel.
And as always, wishing you and your loved ones good health.
We'll see you in the next video, bye.