A wave of Argentine teenagers identifying as animals — therians, in the online vocabulary — is now common enough to draw comment from school counselors and clinical psychologists in Buenos Aires and Rosario [1]. The Associated Press, on a school-day visit, found teenagers who said they identify as wolves, foxes, and house cats, and who described the identity as both a feeling and a community [1].

The therian label is not new — it predates TikTok — but the algorithmic feed is what made the cohort visible. Argentine teens in the AP's reporting found the community through short videos, joined Discord servers, and met locally [1]. Some wear tail clips and ear hoods to school. School responses have ranged from accommodation to disciplinary letters [1].

The psychiatric framing the AP got is measured. A clinical psychologist quoted in the story called the phenomenon a developmentally typical identity exploration mediated by a new platform — closer to the early-2000s emo wave than to anything pathological — but warned that for a small subset, the immersion can mask depression or social anxiety [1].

What the wave is not, the AP concludes, is a moral collapse. It is a teen-identity wave produced by feed mechanics, the same as previous ones, with new costumes.

-- MAYA CALLOWAY, New York