Date First Written: November 2019
Why Are Our Nonhuman Headmates Are Therianthropes and Phytanthropes
The Existence of Nonhuman Headmates
The term "headmate" refers to an individual who shares their body with other persons/personalities/souls/etc with others (other headmates). Headmates can be human or nonhuman. Nonhuman headmates aren’t unheard of, though they are less common. Nonhuman alters specifically are certainly not unheard of in academic books and articles that mention kinds of alters in cases of patients diagnosed with MPD and later DID. There are even a number of case studies we have seen that were mostly composed of nonhuman animal alters. Specific statistics in systems diagnosed with DDNOS and later OSDD do not seem to exist, but it is inferred that the kinds of alters common and uncommon in OSDD cases are similar to those in DID cases. For statistics on kinds of headmates in multiple systems that aren't diagnosed with DID or OSDD don't seem to exist in academic circles (yet?), but based on non-academic surveys and anecdotal accounts they seem to be somewhat similar to those diagnosed with DID or OSDD. Even just going off of the numerous multiple systems we have met over the years, this is the case as well - nonhuman headmates to some extent or another are not unheard of within the plural community. So in the general scheme of things, while our multiple system's ratio of nonhuman compared to human headmates is not common, it is not unheard of by far.
Our Mostly Nonhuman Multiple System
Our multiple system almost entirely consists of nonhuman headmates. The majority of us that are nonhuman are species of nonhuman animals that are known to exist or have existed on Earth. Roughly 70% of our multiple system are nonhuman Earthly animals. Just under 20% of our multiple system identifies as mythical or fictional animals. The smallest nonhuman group in our multiple system are those that identify as Earthly plants at under 5% of our multiple system. Only a sliver of our multiple system are human. Only something like 5% of our multiple system identify as human. So where do the otherkin communities (especially the therian community for most of us) come into play? Over the years, we've seen some back and forth within both the otherkin communities and the multiple community on if individual nonhuman headmates are otherkin or not.
Reason #1: We Fit The Definition
First to define some terms to make sure we are on the same page as far as what these terms mean in brief. Otherkin is a term that means someone who identifies as nonhuman in a non-physical way, involuntarily. While therianthrope is a term that means someone who identifies as a nonhuman Earthly animal in a non-physical way, involuntarily. That is what those terms mean at their core. Identifying as nonhuman. If a person, headmate or no, identifies as nonhuman involuntarily they are, by definition, otherkin. The definitions for those terms say nothing about whether the individual shares a body with others or not.
Most of our headmates consider ourselves otherkin (though most prefer specific terms for their identity such as therianthrope, draconic, phytanthrope, etc because those terms are more personally relevant and meaningful) because we do not identify as human even though we live in a human body. We are just nonhuman in a non-physical way. Our self images of ourselves are nonhuman. Our way of viewing ourselves and the world around us, brings to mind nonhuman animals. This identification is involuntary. It has existed since we can remember and there has been so sign in the last 20+ years it will ever go away. This leads us to having experiences relating to our nonhuman identities when we are fronting. (Fronting being the act of being in control of the body and aware of the body's actions as one's own.) Just because we are part of a multiple system, rather than being singlets, would not change our individual species identities. There is no part of the definition behind what it means to be otherkin that excludes members of a multiple system from being otherkin just because they are multiple. All of us are in this human body but (most of us) identify as nonhuman. To identify as is to consider yourself as such, and we do consider ourselves nonhuman (for those of us who are nonhuman headmates). So, for those of us who are, we clearly meet the base definition. Not human, but having a physically human body. Human, but non-physically nonhuman. Most of us in our multiple system have grown up being aware of our physical body. We do feel that our physical body has an impact on our identity. After all, the nature of our body means we are not physically nonhuman, which causes conflict for the person fronting. The difference between body image and our physical body is what fuels dysphoria as well as causes things like our phantom bodies among other experiences we have while fronting. The dissociation between our identity and our body is because of species differences. Dysphoria disconnects many of us from identifying with our physical body to some extent or another, but cannot deny how it influences our identity and, more importantly, what we experiences because of that difference. Because of this, we fit the label of otherkin.
Reason #2: Identity Verses Physical Body Distinction
We also prefer to call ourselves therianthropes and phytanthropes rather than nonhuman headmates because it works to explain the distinction between our individual species identities compared to the state of the physical body we share. After all, we can't exactly just call ourselves nonhuman to everyday people because they would assume we are trying to claim we were physically nonhuman. Plus sometimes we wish to talk about our species identity without having to disclose our multiplicity. Besides, our species identity isn't dictated by our multiplicity, so we need words and terms outside of the terms relating to our multiplicity. So we have other reasons to prefer to use otherkin (or specially therian, etc.) as the need arises.
Choice To Accept The Term
Of course, what labels a person personally uses depends on them. Even if the definition of something fits perfectly, people have choice to actively use the label or not. This is the case for people who identify as nonhuman as well, whether they are singlet or part of a multiple system. With nonhuman headmates, alters, etc. some use the label otherkin (or specifically therian, etc) and some don't. One of the most common perspectives that makes some members of multiple system to feel the label is appropriate or not seems to stem on if a headmate, alter, etc includes the body their system lives in or not into the equation of their identity. If they feel any personal connection, ownership, or relation to the body of their system in relation to who they are or if they feel their system's body effects their identity/being at all - they may relate to otherkin. If they do not, they might not find the term otherkin or the otherkin community unrelatable. So if a nonhuman headmate considers themselves otherkin (or specifically therian, etc.) tends to vary from multiple to multiple (or even vary between members within a multiple system).
As if it is not already obvious, our multiple system's perspective and experiences lead us to conclude the terms do relate to our experiences and identity. Those in our multiple system who are nonhuman have decided for ourselves to use these labels for ourselves because so many of our experiences mirror those who label themselves therian, draconic, phytanthrope, and so on. So for the nonhuman headmates in our multiple system we resoundingly consider ourselves as such. We do consider those who identify as Earthly animals to be therianthropes, for example, just to name one group of us. We might choose to prefer some labels or descriptive terms over others used in the various otherkin communities, but that is something everyone does for personal preference.
Conclusion
So nonhuman headmates are otherkin by definition and can personally choose to use (or not use) the label for themselves. The nonhuman headmates in our multiple system has chosen to use the labels both because they fit those that use them and because they explain the relationship between ourselves and our body. That is our reasoning. Thus why we are a multiple system of mostly otherkin with many of us being therian.
The term "headmate" refers to an individual who shares their body with other persons/personalities/souls/etc with others (other headmates). Headmates can be human or nonhuman. Nonhuman headmates aren’t unheard of, though they are less common. Nonhuman alters specifically are certainly not unheard of in academic books and articles that mention kinds of alters in cases of patients diagnosed with MPD and later DID. There are even a number of case studies we have seen that were mostly composed of nonhuman animal alters. Specific statistics in systems diagnosed with DDNOS and later OSDD do not seem to exist, but it is inferred that the kinds of alters common and uncommon in OSDD cases are similar to those in DID cases. For statistics on kinds of headmates in multiple systems that aren't diagnosed with DID or OSDD don't seem to exist in academic circles (yet?), but based on non-academic surveys and anecdotal accounts they seem to be somewhat similar to those diagnosed with DID or OSDD. Even just going off of the numerous multiple systems we have met over the years, this is the case as well - nonhuman headmates to some extent or another are not unheard of within the plural community. So in the general scheme of things, while our multiple system's ratio of nonhuman compared to human headmates is not common, it is not unheard of by far.
Our Mostly Nonhuman Multiple System
Our multiple system almost entirely consists of nonhuman headmates. The majority of us that are nonhuman are species of nonhuman animals that are known to exist or have existed on Earth. Roughly 70% of our multiple system are nonhuman Earthly animals. Just under 20% of our multiple system identifies as mythical or fictional animals. The smallest nonhuman group in our multiple system are those that identify as Earthly plants at under 5% of our multiple system. Only a sliver of our multiple system are human. Only something like 5% of our multiple system identify as human. So where do the otherkin communities (especially the therian community for most of us) come into play? Over the years, we've seen some back and forth within both the otherkin communities and the multiple community on if individual nonhuman headmates are otherkin or not.
Reason #1: We Fit The Definition
First to define some terms to make sure we are on the same page as far as what these terms mean in brief. Otherkin is a term that means someone who identifies as nonhuman in a non-physical way, involuntarily. While therianthrope is a term that means someone who identifies as a nonhuman Earthly animal in a non-physical way, involuntarily. That is what those terms mean at their core. Identifying as nonhuman. If a person, headmate or no, identifies as nonhuman involuntarily they are, by definition, otherkin. The definitions for those terms say nothing about whether the individual shares a body with others or not.
Most of our headmates consider ourselves otherkin (though most prefer specific terms for their identity such as therianthrope, draconic, phytanthrope, etc because those terms are more personally relevant and meaningful) because we do not identify as human even though we live in a human body. We are just nonhuman in a non-physical way. Our self images of ourselves are nonhuman. Our way of viewing ourselves and the world around us, brings to mind nonhuman animals. This identification is involuntary. It has existed since we can remember and there has been so sign in the last 20+ years it will ever go away. This leads us to having experiences relating to our nonhuman identities when we are fronting. (Fronting being the act of being in control of the body and aware of the body's actions as one's own.) Just because we are part of a multiple system, rather than being singlets, would not change our individual species identities. There is no part of the definition behind what it means to be otherkin that excludes members of a multiple system from being otherkin just because they are multiple. All of us are in this human body but (most of us) identify as nonhuman. To identify as is to consider yourself as such, and we do consider ourselves nonhuman (for those of us who are nonhuman headmates). So, for those of us who are, we clearly meet the base definition. Not human, but having a physically human body. Human, but non-physically nonhuman. Most of us in our multiple system have grown up being aware of our physical body. We do feel that our physical body has an impact on our identity. After all, the nature of our body means we are not physically nonhuman, which causes conflict for the person fronting. The difference between body image and our physical body is what fuels dysphoria as well as causes things like our phantom bodies among other experiences we have while fronting. The dissociation between our identity and our body is because of species differences. Dysphoria disconnects many of us from identifying with our physical body to some extent or another, but cannot deny how it influences our identity and, more importantly, what we experiences because of that difference. Because of this, we fit the label of otherkin.
Reason #2: Identity Verses Physical Body Distinction
We also prefer to call ourselves therianthropes and phytanthropes rather than nonhuman headmates because it works to explain the distinction between our individual species identities compared to the state of the physical body we share. After all, we can't exactly just call ourselves nonhuman to everyday people because they would assume we are trying to claim we were physically nonhuman. Plus sometimes we wish to talk about our species identity without having to disclose our multiplicity. Besides, our species identity isn't dictated by our multiplicity, so we need words and terms outside of the terms relating to our multiplicity. So we have other reasons to prefer to use otherkin (or specially therian, etc.) as the need arises.
Choice To Accept The Term
Of course, what labels a person personally uses depends on them. Even if the definition of something fits perfectly, people have choice to actively use the label or not. This is the case for people who identify as nonhuman as well, whether they are singlet or part of a multiple system. With nonhuman headmates, alters, etc. some use the label otherkin (or specifically therian, etc) and some don't. One of the most common perspectives that makes some members of multiple system to feel the label is appropriate or not seems to stem on if a headmate, alter, etc includes the body their system lives in or not into the equation of their identity. If they feel any personal connection, ownership, or relation to the body of their system in relation to who they are or if they feel their system's body effects their identity/being at all - they may relate to otherkin. If they do not, they might not find the term otherkin or the otherkin community unrelatable. So if a nonhuman headmate considers themselves otherkin (or specifically therian, etc.) tends to vary from multiple to multiple (or even vary between members within a multiple system).
As if it is not already obvious, our multiple system's perspective and experiences lead us to conclude the terms do relate to our experiences and identity. Those in our multiple system who are nonhuman have decided for ourselves to use these labels for ourselves because so many of our experiences mirror those who label themselves therian, draconic, phytanthrope, and so on. So for the nonhuman headmates in our multiple system we resoundingly consider ourselves as such. We do consider those who identify as Earthly animals to be therianthropes, for example, just to name one group of us. We might choose to prefer some labels or descriptive terms over others used in the various otherkin communities, but that is something everyone does for personal preference.
Conclusion
So nonhuman headmates are otherkin by definition and can personally choose to use (or not use) the label for themselves. The nonhuman headmates in our multiple system has chosen to use the labels both because they fit those that use them and because they explain the relationship between ourselves and our body. That is our reasoning. Thus why we are a multiple system of mostly otherkin with many of us being therian.