More people with mental illnesses such as anxiety disorder, PTSD, and even autisim are relying on service dogs to help them manage their disorders.  One woman, a 67-year-old former medic has PTSD and has a chihuahua that barks when someone is approaching her from behind and will cuddle in her lap when she is feeling depressed.  These dogs are trained to sense when their owners are having an anxiety attack.  Another owner has a Bermese mountain dog that will come up and touch her, which is enough to break the loop and bring her back to reality.  Sometimes she will scratch her hand until it's raw and won't realize until her dog comes up to her and brings her out of it.  Her dog acts as a grounding influence to her. 
    Service dogs help their owners with isolation which can be onset by panick disorders.  They are forced to go outside to care for their dogs and eventually can get use to dealing with life and managing their anxiety in a healthy way.

I met this lady at the mall who had one of these dogs. The dog was soooo cute so me and my friend went up to her to pet it and she told us that this dog saved her life so many times and that its trained to. She says it gets panic attacks or anxiety attacks and the dog starts biting her hand till she gets out of it. I thought that was so amazing and this dog is soooo cute too!