(Apologies if I come off as sounding rude. I've spent a lot of time with the otherkin community and this is something that I do take seriously and have thought a lot about).
Let's review: Otherkin come in a pretty wide range of flavors. Some people who think they're otherkin are insane. Some are completely functional and, aside from an odd belief system, would pass for normal.
The definition of otherkin is someone who believes that their soul is not human. The belief that they have special powers, hear voices, or are, in any way, abnormal, as well as any social issues they might have are not requirements for calling one's self Otherkin.
Quote:
Generic Criteria for Personality Disorders
* A lasting pattern of behavior and inner experience that markedly deviates from norms of the patient's culture. The pattern is manifested in at least 2 of these areas:
-Affect (appropriateness, intensity, lability and range of emotions)
-Cognition (how the patient perceives and interprets self, others and events)
-Impulse control
-Interpersonal functioning
* This pattern is fixed and affects many personal and social situations.
* These symptoms cause clinically important distress or impair work, social or personal functioning.
* This stable pattern has lasted a long time, with roots in adolescence or young adulthood.
* The symptoms aren't better explained by another mental disorder.
* They aren't directly caused by a general medical condition or substance use, including medications and drugs of abuse.
I've bolded the ones I I can say for certain do not fit, leaving the ones. Otherkin are not necessarily impulsive, do not necessarily act any different than anyone else. Also, their beliefs do not necessarily impair social or personal functioning any more than being Buddhist or wiccan impairs personal functioning.
Some 'kin remain in the closet, so to speak, because they do not wish to deal with social stigma, and thus are indistinguishable from any other person. Thus, while they may not be happy about keeping that part of themselves private. There is no distress or impairment of work, social or personal functioning. (You may argue the personal one, depending on how honest you think someone needs to be to be personally fine). You can believe something weird and still function perfectly fine.
Not all otherkin have been so for a long time and not all have roots in adolescence or young adulthood.
Quote:
Beginning by early adult life, these patients experience isolation and discomfort with social relationships as well as cognitive or perceptual distortions and peculiar behavior. These qualities are present in a variety of situations and shown by at least 5 of:
-Ideas of reference (not delusional)
-Behavior is influenced by odd beliefs or magical thinking inconsistent with cultural norms (includes marked superstitions, belief in telepathy)
-Unusual perceptions or bodily illusions
-Odd speech (vague, excessively abstract, impoverished)
-Paranoid or suspicious ideas
-Affect that is constricted in range or inappropriate to the topic
-Odd behavior or appearance
-Other than close relatives, no close friends or confidants
-In social situations, marked anxiety that is not reduced by familiarity. This is associated with paranoid fears rather than negative self-judgments.
I'm not positive enough on what exactly ideas of reference is anymore ... it's been a while since Abnormal psych. If you could remind me, I'd appreciate it.
Behavior may be influenced by odd beliefs. But the belief by itself is not necessarily a sign of schizotypal personalities. Some unusual perceptions may be present. Some otherkin believe they can sense phantom limbs. Then again, some Born Agains hear the voice of their creator telling them to convert.
wink
It's important to mark the difference between a belief and a delusion. Faith, if you look hard enough at it, can be classified as a delusion. But you'd be committing an awful lot of people if the only criteria you went on was odd beliefs and strange ideas.
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