Activation/Scab Theory

Okay, so, what if let's say 25% of humans have the traits of therianthropy? But it is naturally dormant, like it's our instincts and only comes out when we need it. The reason some(most on here) of us have our therianthropy so defined is that we were in a lot of stressful or bad situations at one time or another. It helps disassociate us from humanity and whatever is going on in your life and instead helps you fit in with other creatures or species. In a way it's like you imprint on something you're around a lot, like in my case it was my late cat. I also think this can explain otherkin if they read a lot of stories/watched shows/other with fantasy creatures but that's not entirely for me to say.
Now I know a lot of you will say that you hadn't had your trauma or bad experiences when you therianthropy started to show, but also a lot of you are/were neurodivergent, lgbtq, or just the "weird kid" and that can also cause a lot of isolation from humanity.
I also believe scary experiences can also lead to bringing out your therianthropy more or starting it all together. For me I've been a Therian for as long as I can remember (though I hadn't actually known that's what I was.), but a couple months ago I fainted, (for anyone who doesn't know, imagine you're just chilling and suddenly you find yourself on the ground surrounded by people trying to talk to you or panicking. You're probably not fully conscious so you don't know what's going on, all you see is panic and fear, suddenly you're escorted by someone(or someones) you may or may not know to a doctors office, nurses offices, or something else depending on your situation and what happens, all while being barley conscious and hardly able to walk. Keep in mind it's probably different for different situations and people.). My point is, it's scary. And boy did I feel disassociated. And ever since then I can't think about what happens very well without panicking, so my mind takes a different approach. I've been in some kind of small state of disassociation ever since. Instead I've found my therianthropy getting stronger, almost daily shifts, animal instincts, and more. I think it's a way to help my brain process what happened.

In short I think therianthropy is almost like a scab, except for you're mind. It's a way for your brain to process and heal from stressful situations you've been put in without being equipped to hadle them well. More often then not with trauma and disassociation. That's why talking about your problems, and more socialization/fitting in more can cause you're therianthropy to be less active, you don't need it's protection as much anymore. And while you're therianthropy will never go away fully, it'll make itself more dormant. It's a brain coping mechanism that's a different experience for everybody. And many different brains have many different coping mechanisms. But of course that doesn't make it any less real, or you any less of your theriotype.

Anyways, I hope this rant hasn't been wayyy too long. And this mainly talks about Psychological therianthropy, I have my own theories for spiritual. As I believe they are two completely separate things/identities that have a similar effect. Though I guess some spiritual things could tie into this theory.
Please tell me your thoughts on the "Scab Theory"

-Nyx (I still need to make a signature.)

P.S. sorry for any spelling errors.

Hiya! Im Arden/Jack! I believe your theory is actually quite interesting!
Your comment of how it may be caused by a traumatic event could very well be something close to pet-regression and or coping link. however, the part that of loss of control makes it sound more close to therianthropy. It actually seems like maybe a berserker shift which can sometimes happen when strong emotion is triggered. Some cases, (from what ive heard) ,include blackouts. Is your theory out of expirience? Im quite interested in it actually :3

@FogLikesFeathers14

Yes, my theory is based off of my experiences. While I won't get into too much detail I believe the reason I got my psychological therianthropy is because I felt disassociated from my family. My sibling has behavioral issues that were very apparent when they were younger, so they often got more attention and praise from my family, in return I ended up spending all of my time with my cat, I believe this lead to me acting more like a cat, as I learned how to act by copying him. Because of that I've had many different people tell me I act like a cat, friends, family, coaches, teachers, pretty much everyone. Because of that I'm also thinking I might be a domestic housecat as well as a Jaguarundi. Possibly even Clado.

I also mentioned my fainting which caused me to be even more disassociated, which I believe is because of the severe amount of negative emotions that did in fact make me feel much more animistic than I usually had before. While before that point I had had maybe a couple of shifts a month, and pretty rarely did I get phantom shifts, now I get phantom shifts at least weakly along with an almost constant sensory shift. I believe that experience, while may not the most traumatic necessarily cut my mind, causing my therianthropy "coping" to come to heal it. I do think I had woken up already in a shift because strong emotion can lead to shifting, which is why I was looking at my hands repeatedly as if confused why they were there along with the feeling of wanting to run away and hide from the people around me, even if they were trusted, I definitely felt trapped in my own skin.

Though I don't believe I had a berserker shift. I was able to fully control myself, I just had extremely strong urges. Also, correct me if I'm wrong a coping-link is voluntary, I believe therianthropy (at least psychologically) is a subconscious way to cope that is involuntary, it also gives you a stronger connection to your theriotype because that's what you really are, you aren't pretending to be something as a coping mech, you really are it.

I hope what I'm saying makes sense...