Psychology is the study of behavior and mind, embracing all aspects of conscious and unconscious behavior as well as thought. A short explanation for psychological therianthropy is abnormal brain wiring or unconscious adaptations of the brain to experiences and possibly emotional traumas, or a combination of both. Basically, a Therian identifies as an animal because their minds interpret their existence as such.
The psychological changes that takes place during shifts has been discussed in the online community since as early as 1994. Those early discussions took place on Alt.Horror.Werewolf. [1]
Both Psychological and Spiritual Therianthropes can have the same experiences, such as shifts. These two branches of Therianthropy are both legitimate and accepted in the community. Many Therians explain their identity through both spiritual and psychological experiences.
Causes of Psychological Therianthropy
This list may not be exhaustive.
- Atypical Neurology
- Imprinting/Developmental
- Identity Formation
- Survival/Resilience/Defense Mechanism
- Duality of Human and Animal Nature
- Combination of Multiple Factors
- Other Causes
Atypical Neurology
This cause of psychological therianthropy includes atypical neuropsychology and atypical physiology. Neurology is the scientific study of the nervous system, especially in respect to its structure, functions, and abnormalities. Neuropsychology is a science that combines psychological observations on behavior and the mind with neurological observations on the brain and nervous system. The specialty is dedicated to enhancing the understanding of brain-behavior relationships.
Atypical neurophysiology is the function of a brain that works significantly different from a large majority of brain. There could possibly be differences in the structure of the brain and/or nervous system that cause different behavior to develop. These differences in neurology and physiology can cause us to process sensations, perception, memory, and communication in atypical ways that we might be interpreting as non-human.
On the Therian Timeline [2], Wolf Van Zandt hypothesized that Weres (Therians) process language differently. We don't seem to think in words, but instead, we think in images. In the essay "A Comprehensive Introduction to a Psychological View of Therianthropy" Liesk wrote, "Quite plainly, it seems to be the case that therians work like animals do. A great number of therians report being visual thinkers, or otherwise thinking mainly in some non-verbal form." [3]
Imprinting and Development
Psychological Therianthropy is explained by some Therians as imprinting on non-human animals. It is possible that a child who watches animal behavior and spends more time than usual with animals instead of properly being socialized and taught behavior by a human family could learn to act like that animal.
Children who associate with animals can take that association and turn it into familiarity and identity. This behavior could become ingrained and be an integral part of one's identity throughout life. Also, without a positive human role-model, it is possible that some children my look up to and see animals as role-models instead of humans. Playing pretend as animals can internalize those feelings and also reinforce animals behaviors.
Identity Formation
Identity is multidimensional. Identity formation begins in early childhood when infants become self-aware. Adolescents usually break away from early beliefs about themselves and their worldview to experiment and explore alternatives. Identity achievement occurs when the adolescent has explore and committed to important aspects about their identity.
Early learning creates lifelong brain organization, and children who come to identify as Therian later in life, could be developing differently from children who identity as human. This could be due to social life, the envrionment, etc that the child is exposed to. Since a lot of Therians reported pretending to be animals as children, perhaps this is an early belief about themselves that still fits their worldview and was maintained throughout adolescence and into adulthood. Of course, there could be many other explanations and personal experiences found throughout the community.
Survival/Resilience/Defense Mechanism
More information coming soon.
- ↑ Results for psychological in alt.horror.werewolves https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/alt.horror.werewolves/psychological%7Csort:date
- ↑ "Mind of the Were" Therian Timeline http://theriantimeline.com/therianthropy/the_mind_of_the_were
- ↑ Liesk, 2007. "A Comprehensive Introduction to a Psychological View of Therianthropy" http://project-shift.net/a-comprehensive-introduction-to-a-psychological-view-of-therianthropy/