Why I think Therianthropy is something much more

(2026-02-07 0:57)Parthias Wrote:  

(2026-02-05 22:46)Observer Wrote:  However, in the grand scheme of things, perhaps the real answer isn't going to be nearly as interesting as anyone would like.

I don’t know about that lol. If research was to turn up an overarching psychological or structural cause(s) of therianthropy, I think that would be absolutely fascinating.

I personally have two theories for why I’m an animal and a human: a spiritual one that I would like to be true, and psychological one that I think is more likely. If my psychological theory is more accurate, I’d really like to know the mechanism behind it. I’m apparently something of an outlier in therian circles since I’m a cishet male, although I am neurodivergent (ASD and ADHD). I haven’t experienced any significant trauma in my life. The commonly trotted-out psychological reasons wouldn’t seem to apply to me, so I’d be very interested in the actual mechanism.

Most of the explanations offered also don't apply to me either; I do have trauma and did have a rough upbringing but my therianthropy presented itself before all that. I also spent all my free time with cats growing up so if it was imprinting, I'd be a cat or at least some sort of feline, not a theriotype I used to mildly dislike. I feel like otherhearted fits the imprinting theory better than therianthropy.

Since we all have have experiences in common, there also has to be something in common we have in our brains or perhaps DNA, or mix of both. What I meant by what I said is, I don't think it's going to be anything crazy if we ever do find out... fascinating, yes, since I spent all this time wondering, but probably very mundane at least by my standards. All the psychological theories we do have so far are pretty mundane.

As for the spiritual side of the argument, while I don't explicitly believe in it I don't disbelieve either... that one has actual potential to amaze me, but I feel like collecting objective proof would be rather difficult.

(2026-02-06 21:20)Observant Demon Wrote:  

(2026-02-05 23:45)blackfurclaws Wrote:  I would love to know more about peoples experiences with there therianthropy and how they feel about it

The problem, however, (at least for me) is that I am never really certain if what I think I feel is legitimate or is just a coping mechanism for something or if it is wishful thinking or some other thing. I have really nothing concrete to compare it to as all I have to go on is vague dreams and memories and since memories are notoriously unreliable I am left to constantly wonder if all my life it is just mechanism to shield my psyche from this bizarre human world.

That's the main thing about us alterhumans experinceing,we are not too for sure if it has to do with us being a coping mechanism or it's something our brains had put together in order to feel like we belong/don't belong as one.

The main part is that what you might be saying could be altered to Imposter Syndrome,something that many humans experience and especially alterhumans in advance. Sometimes we may even think we aren't 'real' alterhumans and we are just confused about the whole awakening part of becoming one.

That could very much link to what your viewing on your point of view and in that case it is normal to see it that way!


And Observant Demon, I'll keep that in mind! Sorry for that haha ^^

(2026-02-07 11:19)Hemlock Wrote:  I may be simplifying a bit too much the actual papers, so I'll try to dig em up later.

Thanks, I’d appreciate that!

(2026-02-07 13:40)Observer Wrote:  I also spent all my free time with cats growing up so if it was imprinting, I'd be a cat or at least some sort of feline, not a theriotype I used to mildly dislike. I feel like otherhearted fits the imprinting theory better than therianthropy.

Interesting. When I was about 5 or 6 I had a bad experience with a cat that left me sour on them until I met my now-wife when I was 19. And here I’m a feline that I didn’t even know existed fo most of my life. I’m sure there are plausible explanations for developing an identity as an animal that you don’t particularly care for, but it does seem a bit odd.

Identifying as an animal that you didn’t know about seems a bit easier, as it could simply be that when you find an animal that closely aligns with your experience you have a post hoc reinterpretation or realignment of experiences to better fit the type in question. I’m not saying this would be the case for all or even most therians, just a possibility for some. I’ve often wondered if it happened with me, that I felt animalistic or at least partially nonhuman, and the exact type or nature of it didn’t become concrete until I found the Canada lynx.