Phantom Limbs
I have seen a few posts on Tumblr asking about the sensation of phantom limbs, and how to know if they are legitimate or not. As someone who constantly experiences most of my phantom limbs, I thought I’d write out a few tips for analyzing what you may be feeling.
Make sure they aren’t caused by some physical complication. I have anxiety which causes a fair amount of regular head pressure, which I originally interpreted as phantom horns, since the pressure was close to the front of my head. It took me a while to learn the difference between my actual phantom ears and the head pressure–head pressure didn’t feel like it took up space, and if I focused closely on it, it wasn’t stationary and almost pulsed. I know a lot of people experience phantom wings–keep in mind this can be caused by back problems or bad posture. Once correcting any physical issues, take another look at your phantom sensations.
Be wary of shifter’s disease. The brain is a finicky thing– if someone thinks hard enough about having phantom limbs, the brain may trick them into feeling these sensations. My advice is to clear your mind of any theriotypes you think you are, and just focus on the sensations rather than try to force them to feel like something specific.
Can you move them? Another issue I encountered with my ‘phantom horns’ head pressure was that it wasn’t under my control. With my ears, I can pivot them and press them flat against my head, and my mane raises on occasion. If you can’t move them at all, this could be a sign that they’re caused by something else.
Draw your limbs. When I was figuring out my theriotype, I would often draw out what I felt. I originally thought I was a painted dog, but after drawing the ears I felt, I eventually noticed that my ears weren’t as tall as those of a wild dog. This is more helpful than you’d think!
Take time off. Be sure to take a few weeks, even a few months, off from examining your phantom sensations. In a few weeks, check in on yourself to see if you’ve still been experiencing the feelings. This should cut down the chances of shifter’s disease, and will also help you to have a clear mind when you come back to analyzing them.
Hope these help!
