Animal Quills

Hmm, I am a little uncomfortable with the use of "blamed" in this case. I definitely think that is possible for some unhealthy people (and of course, having an eating disorder is unhealthy) to lean on their therianthropy as a reason to not recover, because that is one of the features of anorexia, that we will try to find reasons why the eating disorder is okay and why we should keep doing it. And, if we are experiencing it partly because of therianthropy, we will do that.

But, I think that "blamed" sounds like we are saying the therianthropy is responsible when it is not, and, I think in some cases it definitely is. I mentioned above, how I think there is a stigma about saying that therianthropy and disorders might interact or reinforce, because it's thought that "therianthropy is not a real cause of anything"... like therianthropy never can cause harm or bad feelings, and if you think that, then it's all in your mind and you just need a more positive attitude.

I would like to fight that attitude, because, for one thing, it reinforces the idea that anything that is "just in the mind" can't be a real problem and you can just think your way out of it, and it's obvious that that's not how people work, because many life experiences can cause serious problems and traumas even though the experience is "only in the mind".

I think, definitely some people do get unhealthy habits because of therianthropy, for example eating in an unhealthy way, and it is good to say, "therianthropy and this way of acting can be separated". But I think there is a careful line to draw, between "we can separate your therianthropy from your bad habits" and "you are using therianthropy as an excuse". The desire, even if it is flawed, and not always the way that real animals work, still comes from a desire to experience the therian side more closely and that is still a real reason, that we have to work with and not just dismiss people as "making excuses".

I hope this makes sense and doesn't offend. I just come from a background of a lot of experiences of, being told that X or Y disorder I have is an "excuse" for particular behavior when it actually is a symptom, and saying it is an excuse triggers the feeling that I am being told, you just made that up as a reason to act badly, and this doesn't really affect you at all. And, actually it does.