Causes of Feeling Nonhuman that are NOT Therianthropy

(2018-04-25 10:10)Future Wrote:  Not sure if it's significant enough to mention as a specific other, but back pain also frequently seems to cause phantom wings due to the feeling of pressure on one's back mixed with a tendency towards imaginative ability, right?

Yeah. It looks like others agree and think it could be important to mention. I can add pain to the list.

(2018-04-25 16:11)MountainKing Wrote:  I personally wouldn't discredit therianism developing as a coping mechanism.

"Real" or not, I bet my hide a lot of therians are therians due to past trauma that caused them dissociate and find something to help deal with the day to day struggles.

Once this coping mechanism becomes a habit, it's so ingrained in that person that it's near impossible to say it's not just as real as a "real" therian experience.

To differentiate, that's what I call an unconscious defense mechanism. It's likely part of the reason my spiritual therianthropy also developed into psychological Therianthropy.

Coping strategies are chosen. If the strategy or mechanism helps, then the issue could be reduced or resolved, in which case there is no need to be nonhuman any more. But Therian does not seem to be something temporary. Instead, Therianthropy seems very permanent in those who truly are. Therefore, Therianthropy is not a coping mechanism. Most of the people who use coping as a reason to claim being Otherkin or Therian are from Tumblr. And they don't even utilize it properly in a way that a real coping strategy should be because they are self-diagnosing, self-treating, and don't even know what they are talking about.

I've added more to this list recently. Additions include Alter-human, Shifter's Disease, Pet play and Pet Regression.


Alter-human

Alternative Humanity Personal Identity (AHPI) is "A category of personal identity which encompasses identification that is alternative to the common societal idea of humanity." You may decide to call yourself alterhuman if you experience an internal identity that is beyond the scope of what is traditionally considered ‘being human’. If you feel nonhuman but your experiences do not fit into Therianthropy or Otherkinity, you may want to learn more about Alter-humans.

Website - https://www.alt-h.net/
Tumblr - https://alt--h.tumblr.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/alt__h
https://therian.wikia.com/wiki/Alter-human


Shifter's Disease

This "occurs when a person starts reading some therianthropic meaning into mundane, everyday occurances." Individuals who are researching Therianthropy may begin to trick themselves into thinking that normal feelings and sensations that can be explained rationally, are actually therianthropic shifts or evidence of Therianthropy. This in turn, leads them to falsely identify as a Therian for a short period of time.

This is similar to Medical Student's Disease (MSD) in which medical students perceive themselves to be experiencing the symptoms of a disease that they are studying.

https://therian.wikia.com/wiki/Shifter%27s_Disease

Pinky "Shifter's Disease" https://web.archive.org/web/20010203200900/https://www.shifters.org/newbies/disease.shtml

Polar "What is Shifter's Disease" https://web.archive.org/web/20010702102741/https://www.shifters.org/newbies/polar1.shtml


Animal-hearted/Other-hearted/Kith

People can obviously feel deeply connected with animals without identifying as nonhuman. Some Animal-hearted people do claim to have shifts similar to Therians.

https://therian.wikia.com/wiki/Animal-hearted

https://therian.wikia.com/wiki/Other-hearted


Copinglink/Otherlink

Therianthropy (and a therioside) is an innate part of us that is not consciously chosen. Copinglinks and Otherlinks knowingly create nonhuman personas as coping mechanisms or various other reasons.

https://therian.wikia.com/wiki/Copinglink


Creating an Alter Ego

An alter ego (Latin, "the other I") is a second self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term also refers to "the different behaviors any person may display in certain situations" and "the part of someone's personality that is not usually seen by other people". Some create alter egos to live out better versions of themselves because it can be fun and empowering. Other people create alter egos to protect themselves. It's possible that young children and teens are creating nonhuman alter egos to explore who they are and test social situations.

Marelisa Fabrega, "How to Create an Alter Ego" (and Why You Should Want To), Daring to Live Fully Website, https://daringtolivefully.com/alter-ego

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/alter-ego

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alter_ego


Experience Taking

This psychological phenomenon occurs when a person reading a book, watching a movie or animation, or playing a game begins to mimic one of the fictional character's behaviors and personality.

Experience taking can happen without a person realizing it; however, it's usually temporary. "Psychologists have discovered that while reading a book or story, people are prone to subconsciously adopt their behavior, thoughts, beliefs and internal responses to that of fictional characters as if [these traits] were their own.

Experts have dubbed this subconscious phenomenon ‘experience-taking,’ where people actually change their own behaviors and thoughts to match those of a fictional character that they can identify with."

While experience taking is temporary, Therianthropy and Otherkinity are permanent identities.

Norman, Abby. “The Psychology of Fandom: Why We Get Attached to Fictional Characters.” The Mary Sue, 19 Aug. 2015, http://www.themarysue.com/the-psychology-of-fandom/.

Hsu, Christine. “Psychologists Discover How People Subconsciously Become Their Favorite Fictional Characters.” Medical Daily, 14 May 2012, http://www.medicaldaily.com/psychologists-discover-how-people-subconsciously-become-their-favorite-fictional-characters-240435.

"Getting ‘Lost in a Character’ Can Actually Change You" Live Science, May 7, 2012, https://www.livescience.com/20133-lost-character-change.html


Roleplay/Pet Play/Pet Regression

It's fun to create characters and act out being someone or something else. This can be a positive interest or outlet. It's easy to feel connected to anthropomorphic characters. Mimicking these characters and their animal behavior can and does occur. Roleplaying is an interest or hobby that anyone can enjoy.

Pet Play is also roleplaying as an animal, but this activity can either be a sexual kink or nonsexual. It can also include bondage. There is usually a dominant and submissive partner. This is an activity that people choose to participate in and they can pretend to be any animal they choose.

Pet regression is when people prefer to act like animals to reduce stress, anxiety or it just makes some people happy. It is not sexual like pet play can be. This is considered a form of coping in the regression community. Pets enjoy imaginary play and they often have a caregiver to pet them, feed them, and give them rewards.

An individual participating in either of these activities may choose to dress up in items such as collars, leashes, ears, tails, and other items to help them act out their character. They also enjoy having chew toys and plushies like dogs and cats. People who are into pet play are known to use litter boxes during play.

How is Therianthropy different? Therianthropy as an identity is not related to sexual practices. Therianthropy is not a choice, and the therioside is also not a choice. Therianthropy is not a coping mechanism and is not a form of imaginary play. Therianthropes are comfortable with using modern amenities, and are not demanding to have litter boxes placed in public washrooms. Using litter boxes is something that pet players do in their own personal homes during roleplay. Some Therians may choose to also participate in these alternative activities, but roleplay as an animal and pet regression are not Modern Therianthropy.


Power Animals/Spirit Animals/Guides/Totems

"Everyone is thought to have a few of these guardian power animals, from childhood on. Over the course of her or his life the person may have several." ( https://www.shamanlinks.net/shaman-info/the-spirit-world/power-animals/ )

Power animals are external, independent entities that can guide us through difficult events in life. They are not limited by the physical world and may choose to speak to you. Others are more cryptic and will use symbology. It depends on what you need. Often, an animal guide will have specific qualities that help a person through a single event or challenge in life. This means spirit animals can be temporary and change over time. They can be with us for an extended period of time if we maintain the relationship with them. It is possible that working with a power animal can cause shift-like experiences that leads one to feel like an animal. These encounters should not be taken lightly and should be respected due to the connection to Shamanic and Aboriginal cultures across the globe.

In comparison, theriosides, are the inner animal self. They are based on real-world animals and should not be able to speak to you or carry on conversations. When identified correctly, theriosides are a permanent part of a person's identity, personality, and sense of self. I've worked with spirit guides and teachers myself, and for me personally, those experiences differ from Therianthropy.


Practising an Animal or Earth Based Spirituality/Religion

Therianthropy itself is not a religion or spirituality, and it does not require any individual to be a believer in such. There are many religions and spiritualities in which people worship gods or goddess that are often represented as animals. Some gods and goddesses appear as part animal and part human, such as Egyptian Gods. Believers of these theologies sometimes worship the animal itself too. Some rituals involve becoming the animal for a short period of time. Some beliefs also promote fellowship with all creatures on earth.

Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, "Animal worship" February, 16 2018, Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/animal-worship


Daemon

The following comes from The Daemon Page website.

A daemon is a personified version of the second half of someone's mental dialogue, usually mentally represented in an animal form. Usually has a name, gender and personality; usually the dæmon's personality is at least somewhat different from that of the person.

Daemons are considered to be "mental constructs" instead of spiritual entities. Mental construct means "The idea that dæmons are something that people "do" with their minds, rather than something that exists objectively and independently of us." They can be spoken to, and they can speak back to you. Daemons can change form or shape until they become stable, but some remain fluid.

Those of us who call ourselves "dæmians" have taken [Phillip] Pullman's wonderful dæmon concept (His Dark Materials) and turned it into a fun - and even useful - mental construct. For us, dæmons are a part of our consciousness that we've assigned a name, gender, and symbolic animal form. They're glorified imaginary friends that act as the other side of our mental dialogue - sometimes being the voice of reason, devil's advocate, or just a friend. Simply put, dæmons play the role of constant mental companion.

Daemians, people who enjoy daemonism, do not believe they are an animal like Therianthropes do. They do not identify as a nonhuman species. It is highly possible that a lot of people are actually creating daemons and then tricking themselves into having shift-like sensation and feeling nonhuman.

https://daemonpage.com/

https://daemonpage.com/forum/

Earth Listener, "Daemonism, Therianthropy, & Multiplicity" Project Shift, March 2011. https://project-shift.net/daemonism-therianthropy-multiplicity/


Tulpa

The tulpa itself may not cause a person to feel nonhuman, but it could be possible for a person to create an animal tulpa and mistake it as a therioside. This could easily lead them to confuse normal behaviors and sensations with being nonhuman. Whereas a therioside usually merges and integrates with the humanside of us, a Tulpa becomes more and more independent and separate.

The most general definition as accepted by the Western tulpamancy community is as follows: A tulpa is a thought-form that is imagined into existence. It is a sentient and autonomous mental companion. Tulpas are–or resemble to an indistinguishable point–a second consciousness co-inhabiting a brain with their creator. Upon creating a tulpa, the creator, or “host” will essentially share their head and their life with another person. They are distinct from the host in that they possess their own personality, opinions, and actions, which are independent of the host’s, and are conscious entities in that they possess awareness of themselves and the world.

Tulpamancy is a branch of the wider phenomenon of plurality. Plurality is an umbrella term encompassing all phenomena where multiple consciousnesses coinhabit a brain. It should be noted that Western tulpamancy is a practice that is wholly different from the original practice in Tibetan Buddhism. Tulpas are now created for a variety of reasons, some similar and many very different from the reasons of Buddhism and occultism–curiosity, understanding the brain and the nature of selfhood, inspiration, and, most commonly, companionship." The Western tulpamancy community does not believe that the tulpa can physically manifest.

https://tulpa.io/what-is-a-tulpa

https://www.tulpa.info/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpa

Plurality Resource - https://pluralityresource.org/

Plural Related Links and Resources - https://houseofchimeras.weebly.com/resources.html


Interacting with/Observing an Animal

When we are around animals often, we can begin to unintentionally mimic them. Veterinarians, animal handlers, and researchers may need to think like those animals in order to treat, train, and study them. For some people, it's possible that they may temporarily feel more animal-like than human. This can also happen to children who are raised around animals. Some imprinting may happen, but most children grow out of it. However, it is possible that imprinting on a nonhuman animal could lead to Therianthropy in some cases.

https://therian.wikia.com/wiki/Psychological_Therianthropy#Imprinting_and_Development


Medical/Psychological Conditions

The following can cause people to have unusual feelings about their physical bodies and react to their environment in ways that might make them feel nonhuman. In most cases, Therianthropes live a balanced and successful life. An individual could be a Therianthrope and also have one of these disorders with the Therianthropy being a positive part of the individual's life. If your quality of life is being negatively affected for any reason, please seek professional guidance. This information should not be used for self diagnosis.


Bodily Aches/Pains

It was mentioned by several people that back pain can possibly cause an imaginative person to think they have wings or other nonhuman phantom limbs or cameo shifts. Also pain could make it harder to figuring out if you’re Therian/Otherkin. If you are in pain, the first explanation should not be that you are Therian/Otherkin. Pain that lasts more for several day or that is acute and/or accompanied with fever/numbness/tingling should be checked on by a medical professional. Don't go untreated because you want to be Therian/Otherkin.


Dissociative Disorders

Dissociative disorders involve problems with memory, identity, emotion, perception, behavior and sense of self. Dissociative symptoms can potentially disrupt every area of mental functioning. The attitude and personal preferences of a person with dissociative identity disorder (multiple peronsality disorder) may suddenly shift and then shift back. The identities happen involuntarily and are unwanted and cause distress.

There are three types of dissociative disorders:
Dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative amnesia
Depersonalization/derealization disorder

Others in this category can include but are not limited to Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and borderline personality disorder.

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/dissociative-disorders/what-are-dissociative-disorders

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/depersonalizationderealization-disorder

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/depersonalization-disorder-mental-health#1


Clinical Lycanthropy

Clinical lycanthropy is a rare form of reverse inter- metamorphosis wherein patients believe that they are undergoing transformation or have transformed into a non-human animal. In comparison, Therianthropes do not suffer from the hallucinations or delusions of having physically transformed.

https://www.livescience.com/44875-werewolves-in-psychiatry.html

https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.13030057

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14674954


Autism Spectrum/Asperger Syndrome

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts brain development causing most individuals to experience communication problems, difficulty with social interactions and a tendency to repeat specific patterns of behaviour. There is also a markedly restricted repertoire of activities and interests. Some people who are autistic may feel isolated, because they have trouble interacting and communicating with other people. A lot of people on the autism spectrum are also hypersensitive to light or sounds which can make it difficult for them to go out in public. They may also feel like they don't belong, and all of this can possibly make them feel inhuman. Some describe feeling "alien" because they have trouble with social situations and reading normal human behavior.

https://autismcanada.org/about-autism/

Therianthropy and the Autism Spectrum - A Dissection, February 10, 2018 https://thetadelta.tumblr.com/post/170743523134/therianthropy-the-autism-spectrum-a-dissection

Wrong Planet Forums "Feeling Alien-like/Inhuman?" - https://wrongplanet.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=342900

Aspies Central "Do You Feel Like an Alien?" - https://www.autismforums.com/threads/do-you-feel-like-an-alien.1648/


Being LGTB+ Instead

(The next possibility is controversial, but we felt that it should be included.)

While there is no published data about the number of LGTB+ people in the Therianthrope community, the number does seem to be high compared to the regular population. The Furry Fandom and Therianthropy are not to be confused with one another, but a lot of Therians also participate in the Furry culture.

"It may be the case that the furry fandom, which espouses openness and acceptance as its central virtues, may be a particularly welcoming place for members of sexual minorities." "Ultimately, future research is needed to clarify the nature of these interesting sex and fandom differences in sexual orientation."

Plante, C. N., Reysen, S., Roberts, S. E., & Gerbasi, K. C. (2016). FurScience! A summary of five years of research from the International Anthropomorphic Research Project. Waterloo, Ontario: FurScience. https://sites.google.com/site/anthropomorphicresearch/home/publications

The same could be true for the Therian community. It could be seen as a safe place in which to explore sexuality by a person saying their therioside is the opposite gender of the human body. Of course, this might not mean that person is actually a Therianthrope. An individual who is surrounded by anti LGTB+ might use Therianthropy as a reason for why they don't feel comfortable in their body. Therianthropy could be a safer alternative explanation that the individual could keep to themselves without feeling guilty or ashamed. People who join the Therian community often come out as LGTB+ after they have been accepted and found it to be a safe environment in which to discuss how they feel about their gender dysphoria. The feeling of being nonhuman could diminish as a person accepts that they are LGTB+.

It's probably good to have this "out there" to remind people that people can play with their own heads. Psychodrama has been a part of psychology as long as there has been psychotherapy. But formal psychotherapy keeps it under controlled conditions, even when people do it in their own privacy. All the kids did it when I was growing up - only we called it play acting and imagination. One of the positive results of older kids and adults making fun of us (although that's an inappropriate way of dealing with it.) is that we kept it to ourselves in our own groups and we understood well that it was our imagination - deep down, we even understood the therapeutic part it played for us.

I'm told that, when I was very young, I "became" Pal Joey. I'm not that impressed by Frank Sinatra any more and, even if I were, Pal Joey would not be the character I chose to emulate (immolate, maybe) .

But I've been asked repeatedly, "If I want to imagine that I'm a Werewolf and it makes me feel better, what's wrong with that?" Actually, there are a lot of things wrong with that - the primary being that there is a reality that we have to deal with regardless of whether we like it or not. That's the bed rock of our existence and it's not going to change. We may get away with thumbing our nose at it for awhile, but when it flips around and bites us, we're going to hate our lives.

Werewolves are werewolves - that's our bedrock existence and if we don't like the reality around us, our only move is to figure out how to deal with it - it's not going away until we do. Those of us who are not weres don't make reality easier by imagining ourselves to be weres. And if you actually talk to the fantasizers, they're not helping themselves. They haven't found happiness in their fantasies. They're just as sad and lonely as they always were - and add on top of that the anger and insecurity that moves them to imagine themselves as something more powerful and secure that they are and you have a really miserable person.

Psychologist have always held that neurotic people build castles in the sky and psychotic people live there. That hasn't changed. I believe (I could be wrong) that we weres are here to help make this a better world. We don't do so by encouraging weaker people to adopt lifestyles that are going to hurt them badly in the end.

Frankly, I value the furry community because it gives people who want to indulge in animal psychodrama a safe and healthy way to do it. People can explore trans- and posthumanism and transsspecieism in an accepted environment - I hope those catch on soon.

Humans have been way to full of themselves for way too long and it's time for them to begin exploring other ways to interact with their worlds.

Now, a thing. I've recently come to an understanding that some of the therians I have been interacting with for some time are, in fact, dyed in the wool, diagnosed clinical lycanthropes. And they consider themselves therianthropes. By continuing to hold to the old saw, "clinical lycanthropy is not therianthropy", we are excluding some of our oldest members. If you're a therianthropy and you have been to a therapist for depression or anger management or whatever - you are a clinical lycanthrope. If you talked about therianthropy to your therapist, it may even be in your files. In a way, clinical lycanthropes have more claim than the rest of us - they have the papers to prove it!

So, if you want to hold tightly to the distinction between clinical lycanthropy and therianthropy, please tell me what the difference is. And before you start, just keep in mind that I've been studying this since I got my first copy of Noll over 30 years ago. You'd best know what you're talking about.

(2018-06-05 18:01)WolfVanZandt Wrote:  Now, a thing. I've recently come to an understanding that some of the therians I have been interacting with for some time are, in fact, dyed in the wool, diagnosed clinical lycanthropes. And they consider themselves therianthropes. By continuing to hold to the old saw, "clinical lycanthropy is not therianthropy", we are excluding some of our oldest members. If you're a therianthropy and you have been to a therapist for depression or anger management or whatever - you are a clinical lycanthrope. If you talked about therianthropy to your therapist, it may even be in your files. In a way, clinical lycanthropes have more claim than the rest of us - they have the papers to prove it!

So, if you want to hold tightly to the distinction between clinical lycanthropy and therianthropy, please tell me what the difference is. And before you start, just keep in mind that I've been studying this since I got my first copy of Noll over 30 years ago. You'd best know what you're talking about.

I don't agree that every Therian who has ever been to a therapist for any reason at all is a clinical lycanthrope, especially if the reason is unrelated to the therianthropy. Just because you know a few who have been diagnosed who also label themselves Therians doesn't mean this is true for everyone. Telling all the young kids on the internet that running to discuss therianthropy with a therapist is going to make them "more legit" because "they have the papers to prove it" rather than those who don't is very dangerous territory. I don't think our community needs that. It would tear itself apart. I would be excluded from being a Therian and many others would be too just because we'd never been to a therapist.

We don't know what Therianthropy is or isn't. I thought some cases of clinical lycanthropy were acute and temporary. Therianthropes usually experience this for a lifetime. We can't say all therians are clinical lycanthropes or that all people who have experienced clinical lycanthropy are going to also self-identify as a therianthrope. I haven't seen any evidence that we are all clinically insane and need treatment.

Also saying this could encourage people who truly need medical care and treatment to not seek that help because they would see examples of a lot of therians who function normally in society. Lycanthropy is usually caused by another psychological disorder which needs to be treated. People who are clinical lycanthropes have episodes that they can't control, whereas Therians do have some self-control during shifts. It's possible that a person has experienced clinical lycanthropy and they also self-identify as a Therianthrope, but I don't think we should be saying clinical lycanthropy = therianthropy in ever case without a doubt and vise versa.

The thing is, it seems that most of the intractible clinical lycanthropes have been to therapists for things other than lycanthropy. They treat them with medications that deal with the depression or whatever brought them in and it goes away, but the lycanthropy doesn't. It's easy enough to divide the published cases into two groups. I don't believe at all that the kind that resolves with medication are therians, but there are plenty of the other kind. Medication doesn't eliminate their therianthropy. It helps with other problems though. They went into more depth with case 8 in the McLean study than the others becauuse they had more of his life history. It sound exactly like any other therian.

All clinical lycanthropes are certainly not therians, but some are and they seem to be indisinguishable from therians. Instead of stating that clinical lycanthropy is not therianthropy and vice versa - what we need to do is distinguish between the two types of clinical lycanthropy. The basis of intractable clinical lycanthropy very much seems to be therianthropy. Therapists need to understand that. We don't need to sweep it under the rug.

The solution is not to tell kids (and everyone else) that clinical lycanthropy and tehrianthropy are not related - they seem to be - it's to accurately report what teh relationship seems to be. truth in labeling, y'know.

"It's possible that a person has experienced clinical lycanthropy and they also self-identify as a Therianthrope, but I don't think we should be saying clinical lycanthropy = therianthropy in ever case without a doubt and vise versa."

That is absolutely true. The statement I have a problem with is that therianthropy and clinical lycanthroopy is not related. Some thing that is very likely not true. And

"Clinical lycanthropy is a rare form of reverse inter- metamorphosis wherein patients believe that they are undergoing transformation or have transformed into a non-human animal."

This was not true of several of the reported case histories. In fact, several of the classical cases did not include p-shift delusions. A couple of the p-shifter cases I checked out turned out to be schizophrenia but they were nevertheless therians. The therianthropy conditioned the delusions. They would not have thought they were changing shape if they had not been therians.

The therian community has many of the same attributes of all the other hominids in the planet including the same mental illnesses - it seems in the same proportions. We should not avoid the fact that some therians have clinical depression, schizophrenia, or personality disorders. Those things do not make them any less therian.

The reason therapists have considered clinical lycanthropy to be a clinical disorder is because all they ever saw was dysfunctional therians. We need them to know that, yes clinical lycanthropes have problems that might bring them into the clinical as clinical lycanthropes, but that doesn't make the lycanthropy the problem. We need to help them distinguish between the lycanthropy and the real problem. We don't do that be telling them that the clinical lycanthropes are not real therians.

What we should tell kids is the truth - that therians sometimes have problems just like everyone else and that may bring them into the clinic and that's where many of the diagnoses of clinical lycanthropy come from. The others are people with delusions. Give them medicine and the delusions go away. That's a little more wordage than, "Clinical lycanthropy is unrelated to therianthropy," but it's probably the truth.

(2018-06-06 1:09)WolfVanZandt Wrote:  That is absolutely true. The statement I have a problem with is that therianthropy and clinical lycanthroopy is not related. Some thing that is very likely not true. And

"Clinical lycanthropy is a rare form of reverse inter- metamorphosis wherein patients believe that they are undergoing transformation or have transformed into a non-human animal."

This was not true of several of the reported case histories. In fact, several of the classical cases did not include p-shift delusions. A couple of the p-shifter cases I checked out turned out to be schizophrenia but they were nevertheless therians. The therianthropy conditioned the delusions. They would not have thought they were changing shape if they had not been therians.

Thanks for the clarification. It looks like we're more in agreement now. I'll consider taking that line or two out or editing them.

The thing is that we, as a people, have sought a simple approach to therianthropy so we've focused on exclusionary strategies like, "Theriotypes must be extant animals", and "Theriotypes can't be primates", and "Theerianthrpy isn't related to clinical lycanthropy," and then threw in inclusionary clauses like, "Whoever says they're a therian are a therian." The commonality isn't about what a therian is but about how to make therianthropy easy (or simple). Like most things in nature, therianthropy is both simple and complex (according to what level you're on) but we'll never actually understand it with simplicities.

This thread is also popular and linked to from the outside, so I'm moving it here so people can read it without having to register.

LP,
Dusty

(2018-10-06 20:36)DustWolf Wrote:  This thread is also popular and linked to from the outside, so I'm moving it here so people can read it without having to register.

LP,
Dusty

That's okay with me. Thank you.

(2018-01-13 21:16)DustWolf Wrote:  I was going to try a potentially controversial suggestion on this subject.

Basically, TG has a much higher % of LGBT+ than the general population. I've heard LGBT+ people mention that they once believed themselves to have a non-human identity, because of how alien they felt within their bodies.

Do you think it's possible that some people think of themselves as therian, but are in fact only LGBT+?

LP,
Dusty

There is a transgender dragon... Well someone who changed their look with tattoos, body piercings and getting their nose and ears reshaped there is also cat man who changed himself into a tiger but he recently passed away

---

I said something in chat today "I think it may be something like soul transferance where experiences and feeling of past lives get transferred to our current life." I mean this can apply to spiritual therians and otherkin who believe in past lives or the dual souls theory but then again I can't relate to those who identify as physiological. Vacuum cleaners are a problem for me too dust.