In the UK mental illness is still not recognised as a disability. As a result of this, there is no support available to have registered mental health support/assistance dogs whereas in America there are psychiatric assistant dogs for various mental health issues. Dogs can be trained to - • Remind their owner to take medication • Provide comfort/feeling of security in large crowds and busy places • Assist with every day tasks like going shopping etc • Wake their owner up in the morning if they have difficult doing so AND MUCH MORE. As a young woman who suffers from depression and anxiety on a daily basis as a result of something unfortunate that happened to me, I don't feel safe walking about myself. In shops I struggle to ask for help or even take my items to the pay point because I'm too scared to interact socially with strangers, so much that the anxiety will cause me to be sick or extremely upset. As a result of what happened to me, I am terrified walking about on my own and sometimes I'm too scared to leave my own house and I'll stay in my bed for days because I'm either too sad or too scared to get up. Also throughout a normal day due to depression I can become very emotionally distressed out of nowhere and it's a very difficult situation to be in and can lead to some really humiliating emotional breakdowns in public. The list goes on with things that are hindering my every day life. Millions of other people suffer just like I do and even worse. All the things listed above (and more!) could be helped by the support of a mental health assistance dog. I'd love to have the support and security of having an assistance dog with me to help me feel safer on my own and also decrease my anxiety about going into shops. Even small things like reminding me to take my medication in the morning (which I often forget to do due to the traits of the illness) could help improve my, and many others lives on a daily basis. Mental health is a disability. Wether it's depression, anxiety, ptsd, OCD, etc. it is a life hindering thing to experience and we shouldn't have to sacrifice things in our daily lives for something that we cannot help.