(2026-02-03 17:37)Parthias Wrote:  @ouch

I’d like to point out that not all neurodivergence and not all mental illness is rooted in trauma.

While this theory isn’t without merit, I think it’s a bit reductive. Not all therianthropy is rooted in trauma either, and while I’m sure that therianthropy as a defense or coping mechanism certainly exists, I think there’s also a lot of therians for whom that isn’t the case. Take me as an example: I have ASD and ADHD, both of which are biological in origin. My mental health issues, mainly compulsive behavior, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, and depression, are all primarily rooted in my AuDHD. Not to say there aren’t other contributing factors, but that’s the primary cause. While my lynx-self could absolutely have developed as a response or coping mechanism to that, there are several other equally plausible explanations, and in any case there’s not really any trauma for it to be caused by.

And, as @Thorn pointed out, the sheer variety of animal instincts experienced by therians is a bit of a roadblock for the theory. Many of the instincts and instinctive behaviors that therians experience are from different evolutionary lines and would have no biological mechanism for existing in a human brain.

I’m really not trying to crap on your theory, I just think it needs some more work. Hopefully you can think of a way to reconcile these issues

What I was meaning was that all mental illnesses are like evolutionary in some way. Autism and ADHD are inherited biologically, yeah. But they were caused by things in nature happening to humans and us evolving to adapt to them. That's what I was trying to get across with the "trauma based" thing but I know I'm not very good at getting my point across haha. I was suggesting therianthropy could work in the same way but I agree that its still a bit reductive. Thanks for the thought out response though its making me think.

(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.

(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 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.

(2026-02-07 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.

You may think that, but from what we currently have, you may actually very much fall in! What research has turned up so far is that therianthropes are more likely to be on the autistic spectrum or display schizotypy (my case, doesn't necessarily means a schizospectrum disorder though, some schizotypy happens just in non disordered people).

From what we know (from what I recall), therianthropy in people with these appears to lead to higher quality of life, interestingly enough, so the simplest explanation could just be that it's one way for the brain to make sense of a feeling of alienation (even slight!) from very neurotypical peers, building on it and leading to animal identity. I very much believe furries and people with other strong association to animals also fall in these, since they display similar traits, therianthropy would just be a very anchored version of it.

I may be simplifying a bit too much the actual papers, so I'll try to dig em up later.

(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.

(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

Hmmm...to be honest it is hard for me to describe because unlike many here my therianthropy is not that of a earth 'animal' like bears, panthers, armadillos (which are awesome by the way) and hence I don't have any desire to feel or act like any of those because while I like a lot of animals I personally do not identify as any of them in any manner.

I have not experienced 'shifts' as it is commonly defined either. My type is a 'demon' or at least that is how my kind was referred to for lack of a better term -and no...not the biblical or mythological kind either (nor 'fictionkin')

At any rate I don't see it as a matter of 'pride' as I didn't do anything to be 'proud' of..it's just a part of my psychological makeup I suppose. I question my 'type' frequently and in the end I simply accept it..will my type change? I don't know, in the beginning I was mistaken about my type until I realized that my current type and my original type shared certain attributes which explained why, as time went by, my alignment with my original type (dragon) began to feel more and more distant and fragmented.

Problem is that since my 'therian' type shares many similar qualities as earth humans it is hard to make a delineation between the two species but there are differences.

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.

However on the other hand what I feel -real or not- is a part of me that I guard like a private journal/treasure or belief system and while I am on this human dominated planet I simply try get along as best I can. In short I don't know if any of what I feel is real or just wishful thinking but in the end what matters is being able to get along in this world.

P.S: This is simply how I personally feel and intend no insult to anyone else's experiences

P.S.S: Blackfurclaws....I mean no offenses but could you please break up your post into a couple of paragraphs and put a space after the end of a sentence? I really had a hard time reading as everything is bunched up into a wall of text.

(2026-02-06 0:07)Observer Wrote:  

(2026-02-05 23:45)blackfurclaws Wrote:  I would love to know more about peoples expernceses with there therianthropy and how they feel about it.Either is something strong in pride and having supreme level thoughts about it,or might be as simple as just identifying as one.

For me it's neither. I was actually gonna write a little essay about this.

Therianthropy isn't an identity for me. I could identify as an animal all day long, if I didn't have the experiences to back it up then I simply wouldn't be a therian, it would be wishful thinking. Therefore my experiences are the only important thing to me in determining my therianthropy. The "identity" bit is just a byproduct of this experience, a result of it, not the other way around. I could stop identifying anyhow this instant yet it wouldn't erase my nature.

So in short, my therianthropy is defined by my animalistic nature and nothing else. There's nothing more to it really, I'm not proud of it nor do I think it's fun or interesting. It's just there, and I'm a person who's much more than just this aspect of me, it isn't my defining feature either. At the same time though, it's extremely prominent in my life involuntarily. I wouldn't be a therian if I had a choice.

Interesting point,I guess there are some therians who don't really think much of therianthropy as something to be proud of but whatever the case is,your side is just as interesting as to me! I've always seen therians express themselves proudly with some not so proudly.Or maybe none at all.But that's just how being a therian is ,as it flutuates and varys to person.But I'm glad you opened up about this and appreciate you saying your experince to you therianthropy.^^

(2026-02-05 23:45)blackfurclaws Wrote:  I would love to know more about peoples expernceses with there therianthropy and how they feel about it.Either is something strong in pride and having supreme level thoughts about it,or might be as simple as just identifying as one.

For me it's neither. I was actually gonna write a little essay about this.

Therianthropy isn't an identity for me. I could identify as an animal all day long, if I didn't have the experiences to back it up then I simply wouldn't be a therian, it would be wishful thinking. Therefore my experiences are the only important thing to me in determining my therianthropy. The "identity" bit is just a byproduct of this experience, a result of it, not the other way around. I could stop identifying anyhow this instant yet it wouldn't erase my nature.

So in short, my therianthropy is defined by my animalistic nature and nothing else. There's nothing more to it really, I'm not proud of it nor do I think it's fun or interesting. It's just there, and I'm a person who's much more than just this aspect of me, it isn't my defining feature either. At the same time though, it's extremely prominent in my life involuntarily. I wouldn't be a therian if I had a choice.

(2026-02-05 22:46)Observer Wrote:  I'll probably spend my whole life wondering why I am the way I am somewhere in the back of my mind.

Realistically, I'll probably never know. If there were any actual scientific studies I'd definitely sign up as a guinea pig but the probability of me ever getting this chance is close to zero. Most people will just assume therianthropy is a fashion statement and running on all fours because of all the damage TikTok and Tumblr have caused, or at least nothing more than a niche internet subculture. For a real study to take place, it either has to be one of us or one of us has to somehow make it relevant in the scientific community... though I believe there are things way more important to research than why I'm a were, like cures for various horrible diseases that exist.

I personally think it's just a mix of genetics and my own unique life shaping me into who and what I am. I'm actually going to do a little bit of researching myself soon... I'll force everyone I know to do a survey, most notably my dad. I don't know other therians in real life, but he's a very real candidate from what he's told me and what I observed and compared between the two of us.

However, in the grand scheme of things, perhaps the real answer isn't going to be nearly as interesting as anyone would like.

Even though there is some things more important to reserch in our lives,Its a somewhat interesting theory to think about,since we don't know what happens inside an animal mind,that might be some case why most therians feel trapped,unwanted in such body.What I'm trying to say is even though Therianthropy might not seem like a big deal for some,it is quite the opposite for others.I would love to know more about peoples expernceses with there therianthropy and how they feel about it.Either is something strong in pride and having supreme level thoughts about it,or might be as simple as just identifying as one.