In a recent study of furries and therians, we asked participants to indicate whether or not they had ever experienced the phenomenon of phantom body parts—that is, sensations from a limb or body part that was non-existent. Many people who have had amputations experience sensations as though the limb were still present. As many therians report discomfort with their human body, and some suggest feeling that they are physically not 100% human,1 we tested whether the experience of phantom limbs was more prevalent in therians. Sure enough, therians were significantly more likely than non-therians to experience phantom body parts. Follow-up questions revealed that for those experiencing the phantom limbs, 70.4% found it to be “sometimes” or “always” distressing. For therians who said that they experienced a variety of other therianthropic experiences (e.g., “shifts” into a non-human animal mindset), 54.7% found it “sometimes” or “always” distressing, while 43.4% said that they never found it distressing.
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Furry Psychology with Dr. Nuka
Sat Jul 8th
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
The Wildrose Theatre
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Thank you so much for digging into therians! As someone who identifies as at least part-therian, this research means so much to me that I can share more knowledge of “why” I experience some things I do.
If I may:
On odd occasions, usually happier ones, I feel the slight sense of a tail avoiding a closing door behind me, or ears reacting to my emotions (down when sad/excited, up when alert, etc.)
To know that I may not be alone in experiencing the want to be non-human is freeing. Thank you again for what you do!
Thank you for the comment. You are not alone in these experiences. We look forward to sharing the results on our therian project.
Thank you so much!! This is very useful, I was wondering how many therians would feel nicer after having a tail or such and it helps very much with the research. Much love, from a fox therian!
Hi, I am a furry who is doing research for a paper on the differences between Furries and Therians, and this website has been a large source of information for me. I appreciate the work you guys have done.
Thank you, and best of luck on your paper. What we do have is already in the Therians section of the Research Findings index, but, sooner than later we’re looking to have Therianthropy/Otherkin have their own sections, too. They’ve been “coming soon” for a while now, but they really will be populated with up-to-date content hopefully soon–The plan is to overhaul and update the entirety of the Research Findings pages, on or shortly after the publication of the new forthcoming book, as well as populate, finally, the “Autism in the Fandom” and “Therianthropy/Otherkin” sections the latest information.
I’m a therian doing research for a project in school, and I decided to do the difference between furries and therians. When I came across this website for information, I just wanted to say I was and am super happy that therians are becoming a more known thing (at least from what I see).
I’m an outside appreciator of the furry community without being directly involved and a first year therapist creating a presentation on furries and therians for my work! My best friend is also a dog/moth/computer therian and your book and this website have been FANTASTIC!
Thank you so much!
What was the sample sizes/is there a place where I could find your sample sizes?
Thank you for your question 🙂 It is survey specific, but for all the data/findings in the book, which you can read/download for free here, you’ll find pages 87-93 in Chapter 4 quite helpful in this regard.