This is an interesting theory, and I can definitely see where it could be true for a lot of psychological therians; for me, though, that's just not the case. You mentioned that some therians had their therianthropy before any trauma, and that's how it is with me. Where I deviate, though, is that I'm not neurodivergent, and while I am asexual, my sexuality had no relevance before age 5, which is when the trauma started. I was, by all intents and purposes, an ordinary kid aside from my therianthropy, which has always been there even before I could remember (my parents have home videos of me acting more animalistic than what's normal for a young kid).

My experience tells me that my therianthropy is ingrained in me; that I was simply born with it and that there is no other explanation beyond that I am simply a therian. I'm not at all invalidating your experience and theory. I believe there are multiple reasons why we end up as therians depending on the person and circumstances.

I’ve always pronounced it th-ee-rie-in - I thought everyone pronounced it that way until now lol!

@FogLikesFeathers14

Yes, my theory is based off of my experiences. While I won't get into too much detail I believe the reason I got my psychological therianthropy is because I felt disassociated from my family. My sibling has behavioral issues that were very apparent when they were younger, so they often got more attention and praise from my family, in return I ended up spending all of my time with my cat, I believe this lead to me acting more like a cat, as I learned how to act by copying him. Because of that I've had many different people tell me I act like a cat, friends, family, coaches, teachers, pretty much everyone. Because of that I'm also thinking I might be a domestic housecat as well as a Jaguarundi. Possibly even Clado.

I also mentioned my fainting which caused me to be even more disassociated, which I believe is because of the severe amount of negative emotions that did in fact make me feel much more animistic than I usually had before. While before that point I had had maybe a couple of shifts a month, and pretty rarely did I get phantom shifts, now I get phantom shifts at least weakly along with an almost constant sensory shift. I believe that experience, while may not the most traumatic necessarily cut my mind, causing my therianthropy "coping" to come to heal it. I do think I had woken up already in a shift because strong emotion can lead to shifting, which is why I was looking at my hands repeatedly as if confused why they were there along with the feeling of wanting to run away and hide from the people around me, even if they were trusted, I definitely felt trapped in my own skin.

Though I don't believe I had a berserker shift. I was able to fully control myself, I just had extremely strong urges. Also, correct me if I'm wrong a coping-link is voluntary, I believe therianthropy (at least psychologically) is a subconscious way to cope that is involuntary, it also gives you a stronger connection to your theriotype because that's what you really are, you aren't pretending to be something as a coping mech, you really are it.

I hope what I'm saying makes sense...

Hiya! Im Arden/Jack! I believe your theory is actually quite interesting!
Your comment of how it may be caused by a traumatic event could very well be something close to pet-regression and or coping link. however, the part that of loss of control makes it sound more close to therianthropy. It actually seems like maybe a berserker shift which can sometimes happen when strong emotion is triggered. Some cases, (from what ive heard) ,include blackouts. Is your theory out of expirience? Im quite interested in it actually :3

Okay, so, what if let's say 25% of humans have the traits of therianthropy? But it is naturally dormant, like it's our instincts and only comes out when we need it. The reason some(most on here) of us have our therianthropy so defined is that we were in a lot of stressful or bad situations at one time or another. It helps disassociate us from humanity and whatever is going on in your life and instead helps you fit in with other creatures or species. In a way it's like you imprint on something you're around a lot, like in my case it was my late cat. I also think this can explain otherkin if they read a lot of stories/watched shows/other with fantasy creatures but that's not entirely for me to say.
Now I know a lot of you will say that you hadn't had your trauma or bad experiences when you therianthropy started to show, but also a lot of you are/were neurodivergent, lgbtq, or just the "weird kid" and that can also cause a lot of isolation from humanity.
I also believe scary experiences can also lead to bringing out your therianthropy more or starting it all together. For me I've been a Therian for as long as I can remember (though I hadn't actually known that's what I was.), but a couple months ago I fainted, (for anyone who doesn't know, imagine you're just chilling and suddenly you find yourself on the ground surrounded by people trying to talk to you or panicking. You're probably not fully conscious so you don't know what's going on, all you see is panic and fear, suddenly you're escorted by someone(or someones) you may or may not know to a doctors office, nurses offices, or something else depending on your situation and what happens, all while being barley conscious and hardly able to walk. Keep in mind it's probably different for different situations and people.). My point is, it's scary. And boy did I feel disassociated. And ever since then I can't think about what happens very well without panicking, so my mind takes a different approach. I've been in some kind of small state of disassociation ever since. Instead I've found my therianthropy getting stronger, almost daily shifts, animal instincts, and more. I think it's a way to help my brain process what happened.

In short I think therianthropy is almost like a scab, except for you're mind. It's a way for your brain to process and heal from stressful situations you've been put in without being equipped to hadle them well. More often then not with trauma and disassociation. That's why talking about your problems, and more socialization/fitting in more can cause you're therianthropy to be less active, you don't need it's protection as much anymore. And while you're therianthropy will never go away fully, it'll make itself more dormant. It's a brain coping mechanism that's a different experience for everybody. And many different brains have many different coping mechanisms. But of course that doesn't make it any less real, or you any less of your theriotype.

Anyways, I hope this rant hasn't been wayyy too long. And this mainly talks about Psychological therianthropy, I have my own theories for spiritual. As I believe they are two completely separate things/identities that have a similar effect. Though I guess some spiritual things could tie into this theory.
Please tell me your thoughts on the "Scab Theory"


Okay, I'm going to clear some things up.

1. I do not think therianthropy is voluntary. That would be a coping-link.
2. I don't think this applies to everyone. This is mainly based on my experiences, and even then this only applies to one or two of my theriotypes.
3. I think the therianthropy is caused by feeling disassociated from humans, so you're mind may latch onto a (non-human!) animal to feel more like you belong. I don't think you know you're doing this though, it is subconscious.
4. If your theriotype is something you had never heard of or seen until you put in some research, this likely does not apply to you. That's okay.
5. When I say "When you need it" I don't mean you can just whip it out to ace hunting practice, I mean; have you ever felt a strong emotion, and in turn had a strong shift? That's your brain trying to help you focus on something else to make the emotion less overwhelming, or at the very least help you process better. Or something alike.
6. No I'm not talking about berserker shifts. Though if any of you think I am, could you tell me why you think that?

(2023-07-03 8:47)DustWolf Wrote:  Useful realization, don't you think?

LP,
Dusty

I don't know.
I was simply using a seeming common and rather narrow definition of what one claims constitutes being Therian.
But in the end I guess I also don't care, I am whatever it is I am and relying on endless labels to define myself beyond the physical isn't serving me any favors.

Hey,

I've been waiting for an opportunity to respond here, when my day afforded me enough concentration to actually give you a useful answer.

(2026-07-15 21:59)Abelioscruxthymn Wrote:  

(2020-07-26 19:06)DustWolf Wrote:  What if Therianthropy is more of a connection than a condition?

Given the context, it might be helpful to define those words. Is having been in an abusive relationship a connection or a condition?

I think an abusive relationship is a condition.

A condition is like... a state of being. Something that you presently contain, whether it's something physical or purely psychological. While we call abusive relationships... relationships... the truth is what is relevant is how that affects us, rather than it being interpersonal. And the effect it has on us exists within our psyche.

Meanwhile a connection is more like a relationship in the true meaning of the word. In the present context of therianthropy, me saying that therianthropy might be a connection means that we don't HAVE therianthropy, we just observe the equivalence relationship between how we think and how we think animals think.


I didn't quote the remainder of the argument because this thread is basically a precursor to my Explanations of therianthropy post where I explain that I believe that therianthropy is a form of convergent evolution.

While animal behaviour is mostly dictated by genetics / nature (I'm speaking of wolves, obviously), our human psyche is a good combination of nature and nurture as you have indicated. We are shaped by the combination of our genetics and our life experiences. However, in therianthropy viewed as a form of convergent evolution, because we live in a similar environment as wolves, my combo of nature and nurture has brought me to the same conclusions as just nature brings wolves.

I think this is something of a reasonable conclusion that doesn't need to violate any laws of physics to be true and I am quite contented with it.

LP,
Dusty

(2023-04-02 4:26)TherianRose Wrote:  First of all, welcome! You've got your paws, claws, and other appendages on a great resource for learning about therianthropy. If you haven't read the FAQs on the main Therian Guide site yet, I highly recommend starting over there.

It can be difficult to figure out if you identify with or identify as a given animal/being, and having doubts is a very common part of the therian experience. If you're uncertain or questioning, you're definitely not alone! Throughout this post I say animal, but otherkin are included as well - just replace "animal" with whatever term suits you best.

Personally, it took a lot of reflection, meditation, and journaling over a period of about six months to confirm that I am a therian and subsequently determine my theriotype. It can be a long process, or your type/species might hit you suddenly as you're researching, but don't worry either way. I'm sure you'll figure things out and we are happy to help too!

Now, let's move on to the tips...

(1) First, consider what overall animals feel "right" - canines? Felines? Birds? Reptiles? Don't be afraid to imagine yourself as several different animals! Taking notes can be very helpful during this stage since it can get a little overwhelming. It's also ideal to start with a broad category (also called a clade) and narrow things down from there.

(2) Once you have an overall animal family that feels right, next you can start to envision more specifics about yourself. Try to do so in as much detail as possible - what does your skin feel like - do you have fur? Scales? Feathers? How do you move? Are you looking for others like you, or do you prefer to be solitary? What climate do you feel at home in? What plants and/or animals say "food" to you? Often at this point, a set of characteristics will stand out and help you determine your type(s) and eventually, species and subspecies.

(3) Research can also help a lot during this time of uncertainty. Try to learn everything about your possible theriotype as you can! Again, I recommend doing some journaling about how each one makes you feel, what traits and characteristics hit home and what might not resonate as strongly. In my experience, after reading a lot of studies and articles about wolves, my inner monologue morphed into "oh yeah, we do that," or "they're right, we do like xyz" whenever wolves were mentioned. Of course, this isn't something every therian experiences, but it was a key factor in my awakening.

Ultimately, the decision whether or not to label yourself as a therian is up to you. Don't be afraid to claim the label even if you're still unsure - the beauty of it is that our labels are free to change as we learn more about ourselves. I hope this is helpful for those of you who are just starting on this journey, and for those who already know your theriotype, I'd love to hear how your journey began! Of course, my inbox is always open as well.

~ Rose

This is an amazing post and I wish that I had found it earlier because it's just so helpful and fab!
Hopefully this will help newly awakened/awakening therians!

For me, doing research is learning about myself, exploring my identity, learning about others' experiences, asking myself questions, thinking things through and just talking to people and getting their opinions!

I think that therianthropy is involuntary because you don't wake up one day and decide I'm going to be an animal today and I'm going to act like this and I'm going to pretend to have shifts and similar.

Therianthropy isn't a conscious choice for me - it is just simply who I am and who I will be.
Choosing to wear gear and do vocals and quads is a choice, a personal choice but being a therian in itself is just who you are.