How do you tell mentally ill (AKA insanity) people, from those who just identify as other then human spiritually or psychologically?
Easy, they will tell you. Kin who identify as such due to mental illness (copingkin) are generally very vocal about it.
I believe that mentally ill people also consider the term ‘insanity’ to be a slur, so please don’t use that.
@fromfiction (tagging so you can see this, not because it’s aimed at you)
I think “delusional” is a more applicable term, since not all mental illnesses involve insanity.
Psychological otherkin are generally people who think being otherkin stems from something relating to the brain. Reasons for that can vary, but from what I’ve seen most don’t even begin to relate it to mental illness. If someone says “I’m otherkin because of my mental illness,” it’s probably a good indicator that something is going on there. Given enough time, they’ll probably tell you if it’s a coping mechanism. Just keep asking questions.
Delusional otherkin do exist, and are legitimate. It just takes more work to separate delusions from otherkin experiences.
Thanks for the tag!
I think its absolutely important to remember that there are psychologically based kin who are not mentally ill. Likewise there are kin who are mentally ill whose beliefs have nothing to do with their mental illness.
Meanwhile there are people who identify as copingkin– people who specifically identify as kin as a reaction to their mental illness. The larger kin community is divided on whether copingkin should be considered ‘legitimate’ kin, or a class of its own.
