It can be tough for some parents to see their child go through an identity crisis. It usually happens as they enter puberty, which, for many, can be a challenging experience.
Reddit user Brief_Sun_5937 shared today’s story about a rather unique situation involving her nine-year-old daughter. The young mom was at a loss and took to the internet for some advice.
Bored Panda reached out to the original poster, who has yet to respond. We will update the article once we receive a reply.
Many children go through a period of identity crisis as they try to find themselves while growing up
Image credits: Satura_/Envato elements (not the actual photo)
The nine-year-old girl in this story is going through this challenging phase, which has left her mom feeling uncomfortable
Image credits: Michael Heise/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
The young mother is now seeking the internet’s help on how to handle her complex predicament
Image credits: Brief_Sun_5937
Having a nonhuman identity is normal among children entering adolescence, according to experts
Image credits: hwilson8/Envato elements (not the actual photo)
According to therapist Vilte Baliutaviciute, MA, LPC, of IntraSpectrum Counseling in Chicago, having a nonhuman identity is generally par for the course for any young individual growing up. Here’s what she wrote in her article:
“Nonhuman identity, like other facets of identity, tends to go through a developmental period (usually in adolescence) and stay stable throughout the lifespan. Some research suggests a possible overlap with other forms of neurodiversity, but the identity itself is not inherently pathological.
“Most clinical and sociological research on therian and otherkin communities agrees: this is best approached as diversity, not deficit. Someone can have a rich, well-adjusted life while still identifying as a bear or kobold.”
Human behavior writer Michael Bond echoed a similar sentiment in a piece he wrote for UnHerd. Having friends who identified as therians, he developed a deeper understanding of what they go through.
“Therians are not delusional or psychotic,” he wrote. “Their animalistic feelings are a perpetual feature of their lives and are not alleviated by medication. They are aware, often to their profound disappointment, that they can never transform into animals.”
Therians live complicated lives, and all they want is acceptance
Image credits: Gerardo Infante/Envato elements (not the actual photo)
As Bond explains in his piece, many psychologists see the same distress levels between Therians and people who don’t feel like the gender they were born with.
“For Therians, ‘finding yourself” — that nebulous ideal promoted by the self-help industry — is obligatory,” he wrote. “Although discovery may bring relief, it does not help with the bigger question: why am I this way?
“Science doesn’t provide many answers, so they can only speculate. Therianthropy may be a developmental response to early trauma or a childhood fixation on animals, or it may be a result of abnormal brain wiring. People of a spiritual inclination might think of it in terms of reincarnation or a ‘misplaced soul.’”
Bond also spoke with a Therian friend, BearX, who leads a normal life as a married man with two children and an engineering career. The family supposedly lives a “comfortable middle-class life” in a “nice house.” But deep down, he had a different feeling about who he really was and should be.
“I had an internal sense as a kid that I was supposed to be bigger, heavier,” said BearX. “Later, I worked out that bears fit everything that I felt. It led me to think that maybe I was supposed to have been born a bear, and there was some kind of cataclysmic failure in the universe’s sorting system.”
Ultimately, all BearX wants is to be treated the same way as the rest of the population.
“Our lives would be immeasurably improved if people accepted it if it wasn’t considered strange,” he told Bond.
Parents generally want their children to fit into society and live normal lives. Therefore, the cause for concern of the mom in this story is understandable, given that her daughter may have a rough, difficult time growing up. What do you think, pandas?
The mom provided more information to add to her post
Some commenters gave their reactions and pieces of advice
While others shared their personal accounts
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I'm with the Reddiors here, he child has to be taken off the internet and needs a hobby outside of socials, and mom has to supervise everything she does online. When I was 9, I wanted to be a dinosaur and chase other children around, but I had not the slightest clue what a therian is. In fact, I had to google it today (as it turned out, it's not the same as furries at all, those I know) and seems to be some sort of spirituality thing. The kid must have come across it on some socials, and places like these get weird really really fast, so her contact to these people should be stopped immediately. If she's really interested in therianthropy, she can pick that up again when she's older and more experienced with life.
Agreed that a 9 year old should be off the internet. The problem arises when classmates have access and/or friends have older siblings with access. Children talk. Parents don't. They think that handing a baby an iPad is perfectly good parenting -it isn't. It may not be the content that is disturbing but the ads that are and the ads for TikTok on other platforms expose kids to all kinds of weird sh!t.
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Yeah honestly the thing I'm most worried about is the kid knowing about therians. I'm a furry myself, but I did not fully even know what it was until I was like 16. Before I knew what it was, I was just like "yeah anthro animals are cool and I like to draw them". When I got older I found out there was a community for it. It's normal kid logic to like that type of stuff. The therian community goes wayyy deeper then just acting like an animal (which is what most kids think it is). Let the kid play pretend, it's part of being a kid. But please be careful what type of stuff they come across on the internet.
You think therians are weird? One of my aunts (who died in her 20s) went through a phase when she thought she was a space shuttle.
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I'm with the Reddiors here, he child has to be taken off the internet and needs a hobby outside of socials, and mom has to supervise everything she does online. When I was 9, I wanted to be a dinosaur and chase other children around, but I had not the slightest clue what a therian is. In fact, I had to google it today (as it turned out, it's not the same as furries at all, those I know) and seems to be some sort of spirituality thing. The kid must have come across it on some socials, and places like these get weird really really fast, so her contact to these people should be stopped immediately. If she's really interested in therianthropy, she can pick that up again when she's older and more experienced with life.
Agreed that a 9 year old should be off the internet. The problem arises when classmates have access and/or friends have older siblings with access. Children talk. Parents don't. They think that handing a baby an iPad is perfectly good parenting -it isn't. It may not be the content that is disturbing but the ads that are and the ads for TikTok on other platforms expose kids to all kinds of weird sh!t.
Load More Replies... Yeah honestly the thing I'm most worried about is the kid knowing about therians. I'm a furry myself, but I did not fully even know what it was until I was like 16. Before I knew what it was, I was just like "yeah anthro animals are cool and I like to draw them". When I got older I found out there was a community for it. It's normal kid logic to like that type of stuff. The therian community goes wayyy deeper then just acting like an animal (which is what most kids think it is). Let the kid play pretend, it's part of being a kid. But please be careful what type of stuff they come across on the internet.
You think therians are weird? One of my aunts (who died in her 20s) went through a phase when she thought she was a space shuttle.
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