Meet Luna, the dog trained to help her schizophrenic owner differentiate illusions from reality

Life with schizophrenia, particularly when someone often experiences hallucinations, can be challenging. Hearing voices or seeing things that aren't real can make it extremely difficult for someone to distinguish reality from illusions. However, a service dog can make the journey much easier. Kody Green (@schizophrenichippie on Instagram), who is living with schizophrenia, found a true companion in Luna—his loyal service dog who assists him in managing visual hallucinations.

Kody often struggles with distinguishing hallucinations from reality and can see things that aren't real—and this is where Luna comes to his rescue. In the now-viral Instagram video, Kody was having a visual hallucination when Luna helped him realize that it was simply an illusion. Kody asked his service dog, Luna, to greet people he was seeing; she remained still, thus confirming that they were mere hallucinations. Simultaneously, the overlay text on the screen read, "Luna is a psychiatric service dog that can help me identify hallucinations." The heartwarming Instagram reel received an overwhelming response on social media, with over 21 million views online. 

Meanwhile, reacting to the video, @aussievoiceactor commented, "Although Luna is doing a good job, it's terrifying to think you can see someone in that dark room." Similarly, @masonpinder revealed, "Bro, it's rare, but when I'm stressed or sleep deprived, I'll see shadow figures like silhouettes of someone in the corner of my eye, and it always freaks me out to an immediate fight or flight. I couldn't imagine having that happen on the daily!" @skylar.the.human shared, "My dog does a little boof at any noise; I’m really grateful for her when I have auditory hallucinations, and I’m very sure I’m hearing something." @deadbeatakodachi wrote, "It really is so amazing how dogs and humans are intertwined as species. They really are our best friends."

@drgaving commented, "I frequently get auditory hallucinations at night to the point where I would get so scared I'd have to hide until I fell asleep. Since getting a cat, I can just look at her and see if she is hearing what I'm hearing. Honestly, I trust her more than any person who says they don't hear anything." @amberjlarson shared, "This is so cool. As a therapist, I wish more service dogs were trained for mental health assistance." @juliefast commented, "I so appreciate that you differentiate between the schizophrenia and the schizoaffective bipolar type diagnosis. Thank you!" @aweirdnoodle wrote, "I knew service dogs can be trained for an array of skills, but this type of skill has never crossed my mind before for someone with schizophrenia. Thank you for showing me, Luna is the best girl :)."

On the other hand, @rowdy__rissa wrote, "Oh Luna, I’m so glad you have her. The brain is so complex already, and then to add all the different layers of possible diagnosis on top of it. It’s scary when we have no control over what our brain is doing. But it is always beyond comforting to have our animals, who give us so much comfort throughout." @bbiygrl shared, "That is so awesome! Something like this can change so many people’s lives and help them cope and redirect symptoms they have. Not too many people have access to awareness of services like this for their diagnosis."

You can follow Kody Green (@schizophrenichippie) on Instagram to follow content related to living with schizophrenia.