mosspack said:

hii!! polytherian and otherkin here. i noticed there’s some misinformation in here about physical therians vs lycanthropes, so i’m gonna do my best to educate (despite not knowing a ton on the topic, ill just say what i know) keep in mind im not a physical therian, so i’m not speaking from personal experience!! this is also a complex topic, so i’m sorry if it’s messy or if i jump around a lot. i’m doing my best over here </3

first off, let’s talk about what it means to be a therian. the general idea is that a therian is someone who involuntarily identifies as a non-human animal. the way each person experiences therianthropy can vary, but the core of it is that identity. whether their identity physical, psychological, spiritual, or something else, if someone identifies, they are still a therian.

many people think therianthropy is only non-physical,but that is far from the truth. physical experiences have always been part of the community, even if they’re less talked about now. it’s likely that people started downplaying it to seem more acceptable or easier to understand for outsiders.

also, the term therian only started being used in the 1990s. members of the AHWW often just called it “lycanthropy” or used terms like “were” (short for werewolf) to describe non-human identities. they used these due to them being not species specific before the term therian was coined.

now onto clinical lycanthropy. this is a very rare psychiatric condition where someone has a belief that they’ve transformed into an actual animal. there have only been around 20 recorded cases since the 1850s, and it’s something that can only be diagnosed by a licensed professional. it’s not a term that should be thrown around lightly, it’s a serious, often devastating condition that can really affect someone’s life. if you think someone might be going through this, please get them into contacting a professional asap, dont just self diagnose them.

and now for the main thing i wanted to talk about: physical therians. this is kinda hard to explain because once again, theres a very wide spectrum on how it manifests in different therians. but generally, it refers to therians whose identity extends to a physical level in some way.

for some, it’s about how they see themselves physically and how they want others to see them, their physical identity. essentially, their theriotype is who they are, how they see themselves. (a similar example to this is the experience of being transgender ) for others, it’s the belief that their biological body is non-human in some way. th6at belief can be caused by various reasons, such as psychosis, delusion, spiritual experiences, etc. but they still have that same identity that all therians do. they are not invalid therians just because they experience it in a different way.

someone can be a physical therian and not be a clinical lycanthrope, and a clinical lycanthrope doesn’t have to be a therian. they dont always go hand in hand.

anyways, i know this isn’t the most perfect explanation, but i hope it helps clear some things up ^^ i’m not an expert in any way, just someone trying to help out with the knowledge i do have. sorry if anything in here is off!! i recommend going off and doing research on your own, don't solely base it on what i said :]

Sources

O. Scribner, “Otherkin timeline: The recent history of elfin, fae, and animal people, v. 2.0,” The Art and Writing of O. Scribner. 8 September, 2012, 6 july, 2025 .

Therian wiki - therianthropy, lycanthropy, clinical lycanthropy

spectral.cat on tiktok

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1089872/full

(not the most credible sources, i know, but just what i used to jog my memory on the topic)

apologizing once again in case i got anything wrong or came across as rude, hesitant to post this still because anxiety lol but im gonna do it i swear 💔

sat here for like 5 mins trying to get past anxiety, finally doing it 💪

mosspack said:

and now for the main thing i wanted to talk about: physical therians. this is kinda hard to explain because once again, theres a very wide spectrum on how it manifests in different therians. but generally, it refers to therians whose identity extends to a physical level in some way.

for some, it’s about how they see themselves physically and how they want others to see them, their physical identity. essentially, their theriotype is who they are, how they see themselves. (a similar example to this is the experience of being transgender ) for others, it’s the belief that their biological body is non-human in some way. th6at belief can be caused by various reasons, such as psychosis, delusion, spiritual experiences, etc. but they still have that same identity that all therians do. they are not invalid therians just because they experience it in a different way.

The Ring said:

mosspack said:

and now for the main thing i wanted to talk about: physical therians. this is kinda hard to explain because once again, theres a very wide spectrum on how it manifests in different therians. but generally, it refers to therians whose identity extends to a physical level in some way.

for some, it’s about how they see themselves physically and how they want others to see them, their physical identity. essentially, their theriotype is who they are, how they see themselves. (a similar example to this is the experience of being transgender ) for others, it’s the belief that their biological body is non-human in some way. th6at belief can be caused by various reasons, such as psychosis, delusion, spiritual experiences, etc. but they still have that same identity that all therians do. they are not invalid therians just because they experience it in a different way.

I'm a bit confused here in the bolded part. I meant like you physically see like a tail or fur in the mirror? Does that happen to some therians? I'm so sorry, not trying to sound weird or rude, I just am genuinely curious cuz that's what I meant and I dunno 😭

I don't experience shifts often or really at all, just phantom shifts, like I will feel a tail behind me or ears but not see it.

I know that some Therians experience phantom shifts, like the feeling the limbs of their theriotype, even feeling it react to touch, but I want to be clear and learn more about physical therians. I didn't wanna sound like I was being so black-and-white, like that's the whole opposite of what that book is supposed to be. But thank you so much for the input.

I'm always up for feedback and suggestions ^^

mosspack said:

i cannot give you an 100% correct answer on that due to not being a physical therian myself. i highly recommend trying to find a physical therian somewhere on the internet and asking them questions to hear from their experience. however, i did try to read up on a few different people's experiences on reddit to try and give you a general idea.

when they look in the mirror, they do indeed see a human. biologically, they are aware of being human. "I've talked to a few physical therians/alterhumans, and something i've often heard them say is "i am [insert being] so this body is [insert being]s body."' (/KissaN_666) once again it is a similar experience to being trans, you may have been born as one sex and you know that's your biological sex but you aren't that, you are a different one just in the wrong body.

ive also seen some people say (specifcally systems talking about their headmates) that they view their headspace as a physical part of themselves. "My headmates are physical nonhumans because to them, the innerworld is just as tangible as anything else" (/mrmanboymanguy)

sorry if that didn't help much, i fear i am not the most qualified person to talk about this

source

/r Therian on reddit (once again not a super credible source but quick to look through and see people's experiences)

also sorry for responding so late i forgot to check the forum 😭

The Ring said:

mosspack said:

i cannot give you an 100% correct answer on that due to not being a physical therian myself. i highly recommend trying to find a physical therian somewhere on the internet and asking them questions to hear from their experience. however, i did try to read up on a few different people's experiences on reddit to try and give you a general idea.

when they look in the mirror, they do indeed see a human. biologically, they are aware of being human. "I've talked to a few physical therians/alterhumans, and something i've often heard them say is "i am [insert being] so this body is [insert being]s body."' (/KissaN_666) once again it is a similar experience to being trans, you may have been born as one sex and you know that's your biological sex but you aren't that, you are a different one just in the wrong body.

ive also seen some people say (specifcally systems talking about their headmates) that they view their headspace as a physical part of themselves. "My headmates are physical nonhumans because to them, the innerworld is just as tangible as anything else" (/mrmanboymanguy)

sorry if that didn't help much, i fear i am not the most qualified person to talk about this

source

/r Therian on reddit (once again not a super credible source but quick to look through and see people's experiences)

also sorry for responding so late i forgot to check the forum 😭

Oh that's what I meant! Like they know they are their Theriotype but they do not see it in the mirror, that's so confusing the way I put it ^^" Sorry I should specify that!