Zoanthropy (pronounced zoh-an-thruh-pee)
In clinical psychiatry, a mental disorder; a delusion in
which the patient believes themselves transformed into one of the lower animals;
historically treated as a form of insanity in which one imagines themselves to
be another type of beast.
1845: From the French zoanthrope
(one who suffers from zoanthropy) or directly from the Modern Latin zoanthropia, the construct being zo-, from the Ancient Greek ζῷο (zôion) (animal, beast), from the Proto-Hellenic ďṓyyon, from the Pre-Hellenic gwyōwyon,
from the primitive Indo-European gwyeh₃w-y-om,
from gwei (to live) + anthrōpos (man); the use in English can thus be analyzed as zo(o)-
+ -anthropy. The Greek ζώο (the plural
ζώα)) translated literally as “animal, beast, creature” but among citizens was
used as an insult to label someone was “a brute; stupid”. In modern zoological use, it’s used to refer
to mammals. Zoanthropy is a noun and zoanthropic
is an adjective; the nous plural is zoanthropies.
The modern terms (covering all animal-delusions and apparently
extending to alien life-forms) are Species Identity Disorder & Species
Dysphoria, sub-sets of the category Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) while
the historic companion terms of Zoanthropy were Lycanthropy & Boanthropy. Lycanthropy was from the Ancient Greek
λυκανθρωπία (lukanthrōpía), from
λυκάνθρωπος (lukánthrōpos) and in the
mythology of Antiquity it described the state of being a lycanthrope (or
werewolf), one who could shape-shift between being human and wolf, something
often claimed to happen involuntarily during a full moon; werewolfdom has for
centuries been a staple of writers of things supernatural. In mythology, by extension, the word was used
also to describe those able to shape-shift between the form of a human being
and an animal, whether or not a wolf. In
modern psychiatry, it’s sometimes used to refer to the delusion in which one
believes oneself to be a wolf or other wild animal. Boanthropy is the delusion one is an ox or
cow, the word derived from bovine, from the Late Latin bovīnus (relating to cattle), from the Classical Latin bōs (ox). The terms Species Identity Disorder &
Species Dysphoria are useful for clinicians who no longer have to deal with the
proliferation of species-specific labels for the syndrome including Cynanthropy
(dogs) & Ophidianthropy (snakes).
Presumably, while there might be behavioral variations between patients
(one believing themselves to be a horse should move differently to one thinking
they’re a frog), the treatment regimes will little differ so the names are
really of more interest to word nerds than clinicians who have recorded,
inter-alia, instances of delusional bees, cats, foxes & chickens.
Reviews of the literature suggest Zoanthropy is a rare
delusion. There are countless folk who
identify with animals and regard them as their spirit being (charismatic creatures
like dolphins, eagles and the big cats being popular choices) but a zoanthrope
actually believes themselves to be an animal, at least on occasions. In the last two-hundred odd years, it seems
there have been only a few dozen documented cases, three-quarters of whom also
suffered some other mental disorders including schizophrenia, psychotic
depression & bipolar disorder (the old manic-depression). Patients suffered both permanent and transitory
afflictions which could last only minutes or endure for decades.
The fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5 (2013)) noted (1) it was an inherently psychotic delusion because human metamorphosis into an animal is not possible (as opposed to other delusions which may seem bizarre but which are physically possible) and it seemed overwhelmingly to be associated with instances of monomania (excessive interest or concentration on a singular object or subject; a pathological obsession with one person, thing or idea; an excessive interest with a single subject). Monomania (the plural monomanias or monomaniæ) was from the French monomanie or the Modern Latin monomania, the construct being mono-, from the Ancient Greek μόνος (mónos) (alone, only, sole, single) + mania. The suffix –mania was from the Latin mania, from the Ancient Greek μανία (mania) (madness). In modern use in psychiatry it is used to describe a state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/or energy levels and as a suffix appended as required. In general use, under the influence of the historic meaning (violent derangement of mind; madness; insanity), it’s applied to describe any “excessive or unreasonable desire; a passion or fanaticism” which can be used even of unthreatening behaviors such as “a mania for flower arranging, basket weaving et al”. As a suffix, it’s often appended with the interfix -o- make pronunciation more natural.
Bizarre delusions have traditionally been associated with
conditions such as Schizophrenia but the DSM-5 cast a wider net, noting with
interest the frequency with which the metaphorical and symbolic language of biblical
and other religious texts were mentioned by patients, especially in the specific
type of zoanthropy known as boanthropy, the delusion which causes a patient to believe
themselves to be a bovine, the fate of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. According to the Biblical prophet Daniel,
Nebuchadnezzar was punished by God and lost his sanity for a period of 7 years:
“Immediately the
word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind
and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of
heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’
claws.” (Daniel 4:33)
There has had been speculation Nebuchadnezzar’s behavior
may have been a manifestation of clinical Lycanthropy (the delusion of being a
wolf) and the Bible makes 13 references to wolves, usually as metaphors for
greed and destructiveness although what’s in scripture appears to be more
consistent with Boanthropy and that would more align with the agricultural and historical
contexts, cattle more common than wolves in the religious motifs and presumably
also more numerous in ancient Babylon.
There are variations on the syndrome. One man in Japan spent a reputed ¥2 million (US$13,500) on a bespoke dog costume to fulfill his desire to “become an animal”. Known only as Toco, he has a YouTube channel (with some 56,000 subscribers and 3 million views) with footage of him being taken for a walk in a park, rolling on the ground, playing fetch and sniffing other dogs. He also does a little twerking which will probably disturb as many as it delights. Toco said he felt some nervousness before his first venture outside but that he’d since become more confident because of the warmth shown to him by people and, interestingly, (some) other dogs. He added that he enjoys “doing things that only dogs do” without expanding on the comment. There are practical difficulties Toco has faced including care of the costume which the specialist supplier Zeppet (best-known among film directors for creating sculptures and models for film, television commercials) took some weeks to fabricate before delivery in 2022. Styled to look like a collie because that was his favorite breed, when outside he wears sandals to protect the feet from wear and stop the “fur” from getting too dirty. Better to render his experience as a canine more “dog-like”, in February 2023, he acquired a cage and rather than wandering the house at night, Toco is locked in the cage although apparently not on a leash. Had a leash been used however, that probably wouldn't have been thought an aspect of another syndrome because it was being used only in the context of "dogginess" rather than anything BDSM related.
Dog san: Part of an “interview” by German TV station RTL, 2022.
Predictably, his lifestyle choice has attracted both
supporters and detractors but it appears not to be a case of zooanthropy
(specifically Cynanthropy) because Toco describes his behavior as “play-acting
like a collie”. He those doesn’t believe
himself to be a dog; he just enjoys appearing as one and interacting with
others (people and dogs) on that basis, adding it was his “hobby”, one which “makes me
happy and other people happy, too.” And what he does is notably less
invasive than those who have undergone plastic surgery to give them the characteristic
features of various creatures. In an
interview, Toco revealed he had been “dreaming
of transforming into a dog since he was a child” so the interesting
question is whether he should be considered a harmless eccentric or someone
with some form of Dissociative Identity Disorder though clearly not classical
zoanthropy.
Non-zoanthropic role-playing. One astronaut took a gorilla-suit to the ISS (International Space Station).
