I don't believe in souls, and I don't believe that we are born therians. Some of us may be predisposed to therianthropy, but it is not guaranteed to develop. So what does it take to become one? I see two main ingredients necessary for therianthropy to develop. Those being a connection to an animal, and a disconnect from oneself. The connection can come from a variety of places. People prone to special interests and hyperfixations are far more likely to have this connection. The same goes for people with pets, especially those who had a deep bond with the animal, potentially due to trauma. The disconnect from yourself or reality seems to have several common causes. The first of which is being transgender, which causes you to be uncomfortable in your body and life. Another one is being neurodivergent, which causes you to feel out of place in the world. Trauma and dissociation are very common causes as well, but it can be from anything really. When someone feels disconnected from the world, they will latch onto the animal that they feel connected to for a sense of security and identity. They will begin to project themselves onto the animal, then they will eventually see themselves as the animal. I feel that this recipe for therianthropy explains why so many therians are neurodivergent, mentally ill, and LGBT.
My experience certainly falls under this pattern. I had a special interest in animals from around the age of three, maybe younger. I would play pretend as an animal as much as I possibly could, and learned all that I could about them. Once I started school, I couldn't act like an animal visibly anymore. The school environment was incredibly overstimulating and overwhelming, so I dissociated frequently. I spent hours every single day at school zoned out. While I was dissociating, I engaged in maladaptive daydreaming. In these daydreams I would imagine myself and everyone around me as an animal. I never saw myself as a human, not even once. I wanted to be someone else and somewhere else, and being an animal was my escape. Eventually, this pretending wasn't pretending anymore. I really did see myself as an animal on the inside. That has never gone away.
This is very interesting, and I think a pretty solid theory for some. Part of it fits my situation, but for the most part, this doesn't explain my experience as a therian overall. I also was fixated on animals at a very young age, long before I can remember, but this is where I diverge. While my parents have footage of me as a tiny, tiny pup imitating animals and I did continue to imitate them, for me it went beyond just pretend. I felt like an animal right off the bat, and I'm not neurodivergent or transgender, just asexual which doesn't cause dysphoria or disconnection. I never disassociated from myself until after I had pushed my therianthropy away.
I personally believe there are multiple things that cause therianthropy depending on the person and their situation.
This is certainly true in my case. I am autistic and have had a special interest in animals for as long as I can remember.
Do you believe you can be born trans?
If therianthropy was to make its appearance in the DSM-V, multiple ingredients would have to be present in order to call oneself that and for an extended amount of time (say six months in a row f.ex.) even. Neurodivergency, as you put it, is definitely a contender to be part of the recipe. Yes, I believe in the theory you proposed. I also believe that dysphoria sees many similarities no matter it's based on species or gender. If you can be born with one, then in analogue you can be born with the other (or both) as well. I see no difference as dysphoria is a worldwide, widespread, well-known and much talked about phenomenon. Of course, what dysphoria is exactly, will differ from one individual to the next, depending on the stamina, perseverance, of the individual. But... in general, I would say that what it means to be dysphoric is most likely a universal concept. The way we cope, can differ of course.
(2025-02-18 20:18)Lupus Ferox Wrote: [ -> ]Do you believe you can be born trans?
If therianthropy was to make its appearance in the DSM-V, multiple ingredients would have to be present in order to call oneself that and for an extended amount of time (say six months in a row f.ex.) even. Neurodivergency, as you put it, is definitely a contender to be part of the recipe. Yes, I believe in the theory you proposed. I also believe that dysphoria sees many similarities no matter it's based on species or gender. If you can be born with one, then in analogue you can be born with the other (or both) as well. I see no difference as dysphoria is a worldwide, widespread, well-known and much talked about phenomenon. Of course, what dysphoria is exactly, will differ from one individual to the next, depending on the stamina, perseverance, of the individual. But... in general, I would say that what it means to be dysphoric is most likely a universal concept. The way we cope, can differ of course.
I do believe that you are born trans, but I am not an expert so I can't say for sure. I guess I see species dysphoria and gender dysphoria as different concepts in more ways than just the cause. The presentation of both of these things is similar, but one can be treated in ways other than transitioning. The only treatment for gender dysphoria is to transition. You can manage species dysphoria through things like gear, yes, but you can also use a variety of other methods. I generally see species dysphoria as something that only appears in conjunction with other mental health issues, so not therianthropy wouldn't be the root cause. Ultimately I don't know for sure if you are born as a therian, but I don't believe that these two types of dysphoria should be treated in the same way.
I am not LGBT and i would consider being animalistic has always been a trait of mine. It didn't start as a hyperfixation at all, I've just been always drawn to nature and viewed myself as a dog. As for mental health problems I'm not autistic but do show signs of adhd, but I've never gone to a psychiatrist or gotten diagnosed for anything.
I do have childhood trauma, but my animalistic instincts and connections started before all of that. I also was not raised around pets, so I didn't have that influence growing up. Maybe this is a common theme for therians, but it's not the case for all of them. pretty interesting analysis though.
(2025-02-19 0:56)CatBark Wrote: [ -> ]I am not LGBT and i would consider being animalistic has always been a trait of mine. It didn't start as a hyperfixation at all, I've just been always drawn to nature and viewed myself as a dog. As for mental health problems I'm not autistic but do show signs of adhd, but I've never gone to a psychiatrist or gotten diagnosed for anything.
I do have childhood trauma, but my animalistic instincts and connections started before all of that. I also was not raised around pets, so I didn't have that influence growing up. Maybe this is a common theme for therians, but it's not the case for all of them. pretty interesting analysis though.
Interesting. I don't know anything about your life, but it is more normal for children to have animalistic behaviours that they grow out of, so perhaps your trauma could have influenced this to continue later in life instead of going away. I'm just speculating, do you have any theory for why you're a therian?
If you were given the opportunity to transition into your theriotype, would you without second thought and would that idea release you of your dysphoria, whilst looking forward to it? Regardless, we don't have any coping method that works permanently for species dysphoria right now, other than gear (which doesn't work either for me, but that's a personal matter). The thing is that science doesn't provide in that area. Species dysphoria is very real, unfortunately we don't have anything within medical science that resolves it. It hits home hard, even more so because of what I said regarding the non-existing solution.
I still agree with the fact that there's a recipe of some kind, as people are layers and layers of programming, genetics, nurture and nature anyway, so why not for us therians. Whatever the relationship between neurodivergency and therianthropy may be, it baffles me that most of us do have some condition underlying. But as I came to read just now, this doesn't have to be the case necessarily.
(2025-02-19 1:02)UniqueUsernameTADA Wrote: [ -> ]Interesting. I don't know anything about your life, but it is more normal for children to have animalistic behaviours that they grow out of, so perhaps your trauma could have influenced this to continue later in life instead of going away. I'm just speculating, do you have any theory for why you're a therian?
I don't believe my trauma had a lot to do with continuing these behaviors, but I'm no expert. I was definitely a lot more 'pup-like' in terms of my animalistic nature compared to how I am now. As I see it, I've always been part animal, and I think it will always continue to be that way.
As far as a theory goes, I've had some in the past, each time my beliefs changed or understandings grew, my view of therianthropy changed. I don't believe in souls as most typically do (and I will not elaborate on that, I'm still figuring out what I believe in that area) and I don't believe therianthropy is directly tied to neurodivergence either. There was a point when I was getting to be an older teen that I decided to reject therianthropy entirely and focus on being a "normal person", because I didn't know why or how I was a therian anymore. This happened a few times throughout my journey. After a few months I understood I can reject whatever I want but it will never change fact no matter what I feel or think.
In short, no I do not have a full theory on how somebody is a therian, as you can see it's not a one size fits all type thing. Therianthropy shows itself in many ways and can be experienced many ways and I don't think there exactly is a formula, I think we all want to speculate and find answers because it's a sort of elusive topic, but I don't think any amount of theories will crack the code.
My personal understanding is that therianthropy is one of these three things: For some it's a past life experience, others it could be a neurodivergent experience as this thread says, and for others that don't fit either of these, a gift from mother nature. that's all it is. You identify as an animal as well as a human, and you get to experience the intense connection to nature and the wild far better than any human could. I may not know why I am a therian, but it's obvious to me that won't change the fact I am now.
It is an intriguing theory, though psychology based theories always tend to be hard to prove - if they can even be proved at all.
A primary ingredient of that recipe being dissociation makes sense. But I might even suggest that this includes
disassociation. To sum it up briefly: dissociation is involuntary, whereas disassociation is voluntary. But they can in some cases result in similar symptoms. At the core of both concepts though is that disconnection from someone, something, oneself, or the world. Though a child may not necessarily be dissociative because they have not experienced a form of early stress or trauma, they may choose to disassociate depending on the circumstances.
As a rough example: a child who can't seem to find any other classmates who have the same interests as them might then choose to disassociate themselves from their classmates. They may feel disconnected from the concept of friends because of these circumstances, and that disassociation can then potentially lead to a connection with therianthropy. From what I can see, humans don't tend to function very well when completely disconnected. They need to be connected to something, someone, a concept, a goal, a philosophy, anything. And perhaps therianthropy is just one of those things.
In this way then, obviously those who experience dissociation are more likely to identify as alterhuman (and this has been seen on many occasions where those with DID have reported experiencing animal-like identities). But I believe disassociation can play a part too, which is not inherently dependent on neurodivergency, trauma, or personality (though may still be affected by such traits). Anyone has the capacity to disassociate.
And obvious disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, I am just guesstimating.