Copinglinkers

(2018-09-20 23:52)Goat Wrote:  I have to kindly disagree, if someone wants to be something else to cope we should let them. I think everyone has a right to be a Therian, Otherkin, or whatever if they so choose.

The thing is, though, that you can't choose to be 'kin. Therefore, if they wish to cope by taking on an identity, I'm fine with that, but it's just... not 'kin. My only issue exists in that they consistently water down and make a game out of what it means to be 'kin. Them taking on an identity to cope isn't the actual problem.

Everyone, if they are a therian, has a right to express it. But you can't 'convert', 'turn' or choose to be a therian.

Like I said before, I have nothing against C'linkers except that they call themselves otherkin, when they aren't. I believe they can identify as whatever they want, but should coin their own term for what they experience. Therianthropy isn't a choice and neither is otherkinity.

Copinglinkers, huh? I'm not on tumblr, and actually this is my therian community, so this is a new thing and idea to me. I definitely didn't chose to be therian, anymore than I chose to have blue eyes. But I can't speak for anyone else or their experiences. Though from what I've picked up on this thread, it sounds like it might be best to classify c'linkers as a separate type of thing.

The portion of this thread lacking relevance to the topic has been removed.

(Note, I sincerely apologize for any false information, or if this led to any offense to anybody!)

A term I haven't seen brought up on here is "Copinglink", Or "Otherlink". (If it has, whoops! )

If you are unaware of this term, A copinglink is a non-human identity or relation that is consciously created on the set purpose of coping with trauma, mental illness, disability, and more.
This non-human entity can be changed, or choosen based on what the person may choose. It could vary from earthly animals, to even made-up or cryptid species.

This is no delusion, as these people are fully aware of their physical human form. It is not an unhealthy mechanism either, as it has no real negative physical or mental affect.

This is not dictated by mental health, as DID or OSDD might be, because this can be done by anybody.
Copinglink does NOT make you therian or otherkin, as we do not choose to identify as what we are unlike copinglink.

But, You can be otherkin whilst being a copinglink as this an identity YOU personally create. Though these people may seem similar to otherkin in a few ways, they are not related.
Copinglink is well- a conscious coping mechanism through a non-human link.
Whilist being otherkin is an uncontrollable identity.

In my personal opinion, I have nothing against these people or think they cause much harm to any.

If you think different, please tell me your thoughts!

I never thought I was going deeper into this story but I guess I will.

I fail to see where this is a coping mechanism in any way, shape or form. If you feel the need to change your identity to that of a fictional character or animal ect. You probably are having a hard time in life currently.

The thing is: In what way does it help you if it's consciously done? Aka: You fully are aware of the fact that it's not real.

I used to pretend to be a fictional character. Deep down I knew it was b*llshit. But I couldn't stand not fitting in and being called worthless and other such things. I NEVER would have admitted this isn't real. I made myself believe it, because that way the nasty comments weren't addressed to me. Since I wasn't me but this fictional character.

So if you know it's fake and call it copinglinking what do you gain?

If you're just pretending to be an animal or character in your spare time to escape reality for a bit, then it's simple roleplay! And that's nothing bad or weird.

I don't get it. Hoping someone has an answer, it would be interesting to hear a different perspective.

From my understanding the difference between the two is one is a choice, a choice that you use as a form of coping with a situation, your environment or trauma that helps you during the time you use it. Is otherwise not harmful to others and is generally something you use as a coping mechanism. But. Is being mixed up and confused with therians and otherkin who have no choice or choice in being who they are and their therian/otherkin identity is not something they picked and chose like a skin suit from Walmart. It may have stemmed from partially trauma however it isn't a coping mechanism more so just you.

I think that's what the issue/discussion is all about, correct? How they are using or assuming they are otherkin or therian but aren't and that is leading to bad publicity on Therianthropy of the whole you are choosing to be a non human animal and you have over a thousand "kins" as well as being general disinformation because of tumblur users saying c'linking is actually Therianthropy.

Overall my take on it is it's fine and dandy to have a coping mechanism, it's completely valid. Just put more thought into what you post as to not spread misinformation. For example, when I realized I was ace I thought it meant no libido. And I told that to a few people who asked. Until I educated myself more on the, oh wait it's not having sexual attraction ohhhh ok, I was spreading false information accidentally.

I hope that makes sense? Like you do you just try to be respectful and educate yourself if the people (Therians and Otherkin) are saying that "hey man, this isn't exactly right you might be experiencing c'linking" then it would be a good idea to do some research.

At first I didn't see how coping linking is any different from role playing. But I started to wonder, what if people are doing unconscious thought processes at the conscious level? That would distinguish it from role playing. The definition of coping linking says it is a conscious choice. But sometimes the line between consciousness and unconsciousness can be blurry and shifting around. I have not found much information about coping linking.

I decided to try experimenting with this idea a few months ago, albeit with my own reinterpretation so I don't know if it was coping linking or something else. I wrote about it with the intention to document my experiment, but it was so horribly written I may as well have been banging on the keyboard and it was TMI, so it was banished to the Help and Support forum. Lol. Which was too bad because whatever I did worked.

To briefly explain my experiment with "coping link" or maybe it was an induced cameo, I was in this trauma-enmeshed state of mind, that is, compulsive, angry rumination. It's not fun. I was feeling stuck in an eddy and pissed off. Because it's a compulsion I cannot easily just tell it to stop. And so I decided to try experimenting with a coping link with the idea maybe I could focus on that and break out of the angry looping mindset.

I kind of "invited" the unconscious mind to create a coping link. So I chose to try to induce a cameo shift but I did not choose which form it took. A "coping cameo" manifested and I focused on that. It was something like a dinosaur with armor and spikes. It was a form that "felt safe" from a large predator. This image resembles a symbolic representation of my past when I felt threatened.

What's really cool about this coping cameo is that it not only stopped the compulsive rumination in that moment, but it seems to have had a lasting effect. I was really trying to focus on *linking,* linking the brain to itself to heal the damage. One thing about trauma or unresolved trauma is that it distorts the brain's perception of the passage of time. Time slows down or stops during trauma and afterward, and the brain does not perceive that time has passed since the bad thing happened. I think that's why people with PTSD continually re-experience the trauma like it's still happening, because of the time distortion. Uncoincidentally, I identify as/with a ghost, and a ghost is an entity which is caught looping in an eddy in time.

I don't know how, but focusing on the dinosaur-like "coping cameo" somehow linked the past with the present. In symbolic logic, a frightened part of my unconscious mind which was stuck in the past, and triggering the angry ruminations, was made to feel "safe" with "dinosaur armor." After focusing for awhile there was a sudden shift in consciousness. I had a sense that time had passed and the dinosaur existed in the past. It was a weird feeling when "now" suddenly became "a long time ago," but it was a healing moment.

I really hope I explained this alright.

tl;dr:

I induced and focused on a "coping cameo" that not only helped me feel better in the moment but seems to have influenced a small but lasting improvement on my mental health.

I think copinglinks, or Otherlinks, are valid. I met someone who said they started off as a copinglink, and now share the conciousness of you they linked. Not everyone has that experiance, but I feel thats a pretty explainable explanation.

They fit on the Psychological side of Otherkin, and I do tend to see them being a-well-coping method. At that point it becomes an unconcious decision and cannot be helped. Just like Otherkinity in itself.

I think that they're valid, but that they aren't affiliated with the Therian/Otherkin community as it's not an actual therian/otherkin experience (imo) due to it being:

1) Chosen
2) Trauma-based (and not Identity-based)
3) Capable of being tossed/otherwise disposed of when unneeded

It's the same reason I consider DID-personalities that happen to be animals separate from Therianthropy. If it's able to be removed with therapy, it's likely not an identity - it's a "phase". As therianthropy is an identity, then it's not therianthropy. The key difference between an identity that grows over time and a phase is that the identity doesn't stop being it's root (ex: non-human) whereas a phase can outright change completely on a whim or stop existing entirely once it's not needed. So, yeah they're valid, but they aren't Alt H. In the same way that a Schizophrenic isn't a Psychic because they "see" things.