I think your theory makes sense, but I think it's got some flaws and "Holes", if you will.
I'm not here to downplay your theory, I think it makes a lot of sense, especially when you look at psychological therians, but there are three main reasons why I would tend to not think this way.

The first being that therianthropy is such a wide range of experiences, that it couldn't even be classified as a spectrum like autism is. There would be literally only one similarity, and that would be identity. But even then, that doesn't encompass *all* therians.
Some are fluid in their identity, and some are more "Static".

The second thing I would say for this is that once again, therianthropy is an identity. As others have mentioned, we have been fighting for our experiences to not be labeled as a neurodiversity or mental illness because that usually leads to even more dehumanization. I'm not saying you're promoting dehumanization, I'm just pointing out the consequence of this type of thinking.

The third and final thing I would say about this theory is that therianthropy does not have "symptoms", just common experiences. There are some therians who have past lives, shifts of all kinds, and are autistic. But there are also therians who experienced no past lives, and had no shifts. It's all about your personal beliefs, not what someone else is telling you. And you can't..exactly "Self-diagnose" therianthropy anyway, because it's all about your experiences, not what someone else tells you.
You can't diagnose therianthropy becuase there are no signs if that makes sense.

I think that therianthropy as well as alterhumanity in general are not a neurodivergence. I think that they could be correlated to one another because a lot of creatures here on the forums, myself included, are neurodivergent. I would say for me personally that they are correlated with one another because my autism has always made me feel off and different from humans. But overall I would say that it's not a neurodivergence but it is often correlated with therianthropy and alterhumanity. It also goes back to the saying of "correlation does not equal causation".

There seems to be a higher rate of Autism among therians. But at the same time I feel that, therianthropy can be experienced in such vastly different ways between individuals. And in turn the truth could be that there are many different causes/origins depending on who you are.

Love the game theory reference lol!
I think your theory makes sense, but yeah it doesn't encompass spiritual therianthropy. And for me personally I don't think my therianthropy negatively affects me enough to be a neurodivergency. It can be different for other people, but it is more of a neutral thing that doesn't really affect me that much and is kind of just there...
Like, it isn't really a whole brain wiring for me, more of just a piece of my brain. If that makes any sense.

It's stupidly hard for me not to sound negative about this sort of thing. I'll try my best though.

It wouldn't surprise me if therianthropy really is just the result of the brain not being quite "normal". That for some reason makes humans understand the behaviors/language of other animals better than those of people.

Psychologically speaking all of therianthropy will be explained as a coping mechanism, escapism, probably something about autism, etc, currently.

It's a view that makes sense, but I absolutely can't stand it. I've had a time in my life where I identified as an animal for escapism reasons. That immediately got me misdiagnosed with autism...and the way I was treated due to that diagnosis didn't help me, it broke me. I still struggle with the aftermath of this. And it's long been corrected.

I'd rather not have therianthropy be viewed as a sign of neurodivergence. But as it's own thing entirely. Something both spiritual as well as mental, not something that is "only there because of trauma/autism/psychological problems."

If therianthropy is a real thing then it should be a thing on it's own. Not something that only people from certain groups experience. And that's what I think should get more focus...If that's even possible to do.

Gosh it's hard to explain. Hope you understand what I'm getting at.

Well, the thing is, it isn't a disorder, and we have been fighting for it to not be classified as a disorder. And some of it is spiritual. Yes it affects the brain, but for some of us, it is a spiritual belief rather than psychological. A neurodivergency is something rooted in the brain hence the prefix "neuro". If it is a spiritual thing for some, it is rooted in the spirit. Because it can go either psychological or spiritual, neurodivergency isn't really the right box because it is too small. Only a percentage of therians would be considered neurodivenrgent, and I don't think that sounds right...

Think about it for a second. Just like, say, ADHD, it affects the brain and your actions, just like therianthropy. The symptoms are your non-human behaviors and shifts. It doesn't account for different theriotypes, but I have a seperate few theories about theriotypes some of which align with this theory. but that's just a theory. A GAME THEORY

Thanks for the contribution and others feel free to add to this.

LP,
Dusty

I hope it's not overstepping to add on here, but I have a few quick things I would like to mention--

• Therianthropy is NOT a kink or fetish, or related to one.
• It takes a lot of courage to reveal your therianthropy to someone close to you, even a partner.
• Your partner is probably anxious about your reaction. Even if you are confused or feel upset, staying calm about it and trying to understand goes a long way, and it will be appreciated.
• On the other hand, try not to interrogate your partner about their therianthropy and therianthropy in general. Not everyone is going to have all the answers you want on the spot, or be comfortable sharing them.
  

Hi there,

I wanted to make this thread for all you people, who have partners who are therians who use this site, but are having second thoughts about joining TG yourself.


I understand that you are concerned about what exactly your partner does on Therian Guide.

While we are a private community (therianthropy is pretty personal), and there is a procedure to follow to actually join TG, we don't talk about anything particularly illicit on here. It is my wish (and I'm sure your partner's too) to assuage any fears you might have about this community.

I think the easiest way would be for you to join too. You don't have to also pretend to be a therian or something. Everyone who is willing to have some basic respect is welcome here. Even if you don't respect therians and just want to ask us if we're serious you are free to join. We'll try to answer your questions and the rest you can see for yourself.


I also understand that therianthropy can be an interest you don't share with your partner.

Therianthropy is just something that happens to some of us and therians are pretty rare, so often someone who is a therian will have a partner who is not a therian. Some therians are open about their therianthropy with their partners, while others are not.

I'm sorry if your partner didn't feel like they could trust you with something as personal as their therianthropy. It can be embarrassing and they might have been concerned that knowing would negatively impact your relationship.

Since I know some such cases, I would ask you, if possible to give it time. Your partner is still the person you've always known. I'm sure if you take the time to try and understand why they believe they are a therian, over time, you will see their therianthropy shine through in things you do together.

Therianthropy is not some new interest. It's a core part of the person and it's always been there, whether you've known about it or not.


In addition, therianthropy is not something you necessarily have to have in common with your partner. Many therians live happily with partners who are not therians. The animal aspect may or may not even play a role in daily life. For some it's completely irrelevant. For some, especially therians of domestic animals, it enhances the experience.

You don't have to worry about growing apart with your partner because of therianthropy. As mentioned, if they are a therian it's something that's always been with them.


While some therians do see value in spending time around other therians, there is obviously a big difference between being friends with someone online and being your partner. For me personally, if I befriend your partner I consider you a friendly too. I know that you're someone who's special to my friend and I respect both of you.

It's true that some therians, feel the need to socialise with others of their kind. For example for me as a wolf therian, there's social cues I get from other wolves that I don't get from family or people at work. I enjoy those cues and so I enjoy spending time with other wolf therians. How this expresses in the individual can be complicated, but at the end of the day, all wolf therians are human and you can do anything they can do. As for the actual animals, well... none of them are online.


If you are not a partner of a therian, but a parent of one, I would direct you to the page dedicated to parents of therians:
https://www.therian-guide.com/index.php/8-Parents


While this post is here primarily for people outside the Therian Guide community who are in this situation (the Introduction to Therianthropy forum is public), feel free to discuss what I have written about, below.

LP,
Dusty