Please note this is not an exhaustive list, and not all aspects will be able to have sources for 'fact checking' due to the nature of this topic.
Any and all information that comes from this page that cannot be fact checked comes directly from people who are directly involved with or have direct first hand experience with the subject or related subjects, or have deeply studied the topic over the course of several years.
This list will be frequently updated as topics come up, so be sure to check back for possible updates!
Physical Shifting | Clinical Lycanthropy | Furry Community
Zoophilia | AWTOK / Therian Hunters | Trans-Species
IRLs/DAs | Tulpamancy
It's not impossible for parts of therianthropy to be caused by or encouraged by mental illness or trauma, but that can be the case for almost anything and is far from what therianthropy is at it's source.
You shouldn't automatically assume that someone's experiences with therianthropy are related to any underlying illness or deeper rooted issue.
Not only is it incredibly insensitive and inappropriate to assume, but it is also harmful and encourages a harmful stigma that causes therianthropy to not be taken seriously, or is made to be seen as harmful or symptomatic.
If you would not call someone's religion or spiritual alignments delusions or driven by mental illness, you shouldn't do it to therians. You're allowed to not believe it or agree with it, but the least you can do is respect those who are.
Therianthropy has existed for ages and is far from new. If you'd like to learn more about the history of therianthropy, please check out the history page!
If you're interested in learning and understanding more about this phenomenon, please check out this page to learn more!
Info
Info
The furry community is a group of people who are interested in anthropomorphic animals, or generally animals that have a level of human-like cognition, whether they be bipedal or quadrupedal. This can generally just be an interest, but in most cases it delves into either art or producing furry characters of their own.
Not necessarily!
A lot of people involved in the furry community may have what is known as a fursona, which is a version of yourself represented as an anthropomorphic animal character. While this may appear as a form of therianthropy, that is not inherently true, although they may influence each other in different ways.
Those in the furry community often represent themselves as animals for fun, but it can also be a case of identifying with animals or animal-like characteristics rather than being an animal in a spiritual or psychological sense.
Being a part of the furry community is a choice and preferance rather than a deeper alignment. While being a furry can lead to and influence spiritual awakening, or vice versa, they are not inherently linked.
Of course! As aforementioned, they are not inherently linked.
Just because you may be a therian or a furry, it doesn't mean you have to be or are associated with both labels. It's a matter of what is accurate to your identity and you are not obligated or restricted by any means.
Zoophilia is a paraphilia that ties into the romantic or sexual attraction to animals and animal anatomy. This paraphilia is dangerous, harmful, and should be discouraged and treated in therapy as it enables and encourages animal abuse and the normalization of beastiality.
While not all zoophiles encourage or partake in real life beastiality, it's still something that you shouldn't be vocal or proud of, and especially not encourage or normalize, as it can be harmful to both the person with the paraphilia as well as animals who the person may be attracted to.
It's important to remember that animals cannot consent under any circumstances. Any appearance of an animal 'consenting' or engaging in this way is strictly due to instinct and nature. It should be a given that if the sentient being you're engaging with cannot or has not verbally said 'yes' or is not able to legally consent, you should not engage with them in that way.
Despite this being a harmful paraphilia that should be discouraged, approaching zoophiles with harassment and attacking them is counterproductive and should be approached in a civilized manner as most people with paraphilias such as this come from a place of trauma, grooming, or other underlying problems to make them that way.
Harassment, in most cases, does the opposite of discouraging, as it is not educational and leads to more defensiveness.
Only professionals can safely rehabilitate those with harmful paraphilias. It is not encouraged to try and rehabilitate zoophiles yourself, and you should only block and ignore.
Not in the slightest!
While it is possible for therians to be zoophiles, therianthropy is not inherently linked to zoophilia at all. That is a harmful stereotype that gravely damages the community and puts a harmful stigma on the label.
Therians still recognize that they are in a human body and have human responsibilities, and therefore need to have human relationships.
While it's true that therians can and often will have a closer bond to their pets or other animals than non-therians will due to a more intimate link with being an animal, this should not exceed anything beyond friendship and companionship.
If you find yourself feeling stronger about your pet or other animals and desire to have a romantic or sexual relationship with them, please seek help immediately.
Info
Info
IRLs or DAs (delusional attachments) are the belief that someone is experiencing a delusion of being their kintype in real life, refusing to acknowledge their current life, body, and experiences.
Most commonly you will see people refer to this as a "Identity Delusion", "Delusional Misidentification" or "Capgras Delusion".
Capgras delusions are the delusional belief that you or someone / something else has been replaced with someone, or something else.
These delusions pertaining to yourself are most commonly associated with grandeur delusions, like someone bigger than yourself (Say a deity, celebrity, or someone in power).
These terms (DA/IRL) are not medical, and were coined by someone who is known for being racist, ableist, and perpetuating harassment.
These labels are spreading medical misinformation about psychosis, and are taking away the seriousness of psychosis as a symptom by using 'delusions' as leverage for your kintypes.
These terms also enable and encourage delusions and encourage other people to feed into them for validation.
In a lot of cases you'll also see people using these terms invalidating others, either with the same kintype, or just seeing themselves as 'above' being kin in general. These people use delusions as a way to have authority and be seen as more valid than the kin community.
To go further into detail on how delusions work, it's important to recognize that 'reality checking' people who are delusional typically doesn't work.
Delusions, by definition, are unshakable beliefs that are not grounded in reality. No matter what you say or do to disprove that delusion, the person will still believe it.
While it is possible to be self aware of a delusion, it is typically not present during delusional episodes. Following an episode it's possible to look back and recognize those beliefs as irrational, but to do so during a delusional episode is near to impossible, as that is your whole reality.
Most people you see using the terms IRL or DA all seek validation and claim that 'reality checking' causes them to spiral into panic attacks or heavy dissociation. Those who are delusional don't need validation, and having people challenge their delusions typically doesn't cause them to freak out, as that is what they see as reality. At most, they might be mildly upset or irritated, but it's unlikely to cause full spirals.
This isn't to say that delusions can't be reoccurring, but a lot of people using these labels treat it as though these delusions are a core and peristent part of their identity, rather than a disclaimer or warning, and place it alongside their kintypes as if they are equitable to each other.
In these cases, if you are aware of something being a 'delusion' and you're actively using it as a core part of your identity and feeding into it even outside of 'delusional episodes', it is not a delusion, as it is not actively causing you distress or harming you.
Even if you are coping with it, it's still something that can cause great distress or trigger delusional episodes if not handled appropriately. Those who apply these labels (IRL/DA) will still outright say "I am [kintype] in real life, this is literally me" whether they are in delusional episodes or not. That kind of phrasing is something that can, and will, trigger delusional episodes in those who are genuinely experiencing delusions.
In most cases, what these people are experiencing are just incredibly maladaptive beliefs, ideologies, and practices.
There are a lot of different reasons for this, but in most cases it's primarily to dissociate and distance from reality in a maladaptive manner to essentially 'push their problems away' rather than directly address them or process them.
If you fully invest your identity into something that is detached from you, to the point of losing sight of your bodily identity, it is maladaptive dissociation.
If you are experencing extreme distress when this part of your identity is 'challenged', that is when you know it's gone too far and it's unhealthy.
If you do not have the means of acknowledging your current life and surroundings without facing panic or spiralling, it's important to step back and try and reach a point where you and your kintype can co-exist.
This is not a diagnosis or fact about your experiences.
Please seek out professional opinions before claiming anything for sure. stay safe!
This section was written by someone professionally diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Info on DAs/IRLs | Info on psychosis | Info on delusions
Tulpamancy, or Trulpa, is a practice that originates from Tibetan Buddhism that, although not exclusively, is practiced by monks or those born into temples. It is a belief that you can materialize something in thought form in the form of a human, such as a manifestation of luck or prosperity. Some use it to receive guidance from loved ones who have passed away, in a sense of asking 'what would they do', which can be achieved through deep meditation.
Contrary to popular belief, this is not having 'imaginary friends' or creating hallucinations or manifestations of fictional characters or otherwise. The most that will be achieved through tulpamancy is having auditory hallucinations at most. Anything more than that is an indicator of something wrong, and is not caused by tulpamancy.
Short answer: No.
'Creating' tulpas is not an alternative way of being a system. As aforementioned, tulpamancy is a meditative way of receiving guidance from passed love ones or guidance for things you may be struggling with in your life. These are not imaginary friends, or alters, and cannot 'take over your body'.
Once again, no.
If you are interested in connecting to your theriotype/kintype on a more spiritual level, you don't have to practice tulpamancy to do this. This can easily be achieved with basic meditation and deep inner focus.
If you are interested in becoming a tulpamancer, really ask yourself why. If you're doing this for fun, or intend to use it or treat it as anything more than a spiritual and meditative way of seeking guidance and peace, then you should absolutely not.
Generally speaking, you should not practice this at all if you are not a monk or aren't deeply involved with Buddhism. This thought form process is not something that is achieved easily, and any practice outside of it's source is bastardizing, romanticizing, and appropriating the cultural roots it has.
The westernized definition of this topic has given people the wrong perception of what tulpas are, and why they exist, and any practice outside of its original context is taking away its importance and significance within Buddhism.
If you believe you are a tulpamancer, or have tulpas, please refer here.
Similarly, if you're hallucinating your 'tulpas', please refer here.
Wisdomlib.org, Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia of Buddhism
+ Buddhists directly involved with the subject