Bonds

Bonding

Bonds are psychic connections between humans. They are very important in the omegaverse. On Earth, concepts of psychic bonds can range from things like empathy, where you get a vague sense of emotions, to full telepathy, where you can read every thought and feeling a person has. Omegaverse bonds are closer to empathy - you can't have conversations over them, but you can communicate impressions, feelings, sensations, and vague ideas.

Anatomy

The ‘mating gland’ is a small bundle of nerves on the neck that sends a signal to the pyrene when enough sharp pressure is applied. It is not a scent gland, though most people think of it that way, and nearby scent glands WILL produce special, very strong pheromones when it is activated, called bonding pheromones.

The pyrene is the main structure of the brain associated with pack bonds. After scenting bonding pheromones, a person’s pyrene will send out a strong, undirected psychic ‘connection wave’. When the mating gland is activated, the bitten person’s pyrene will memorize the frequency of any connection waves it receives, forming a bond. (Infants need very little pressure on their mating gland to activate it, and rubbing their necks is usually enough.) If the new bond is a pack bond, as the person learn to ‘hear’ their new bond, they will slowly start to pick up the frequency of other pack bonds, usually completing connections with all pack members in less than two weeks, though time may vary depending on the size of the pack, the activity of the bonds, and the new member’s skill.

Alphas and omegas can only ‘hold’ one bond. This is usually called a ‘mating bond’, despite the fact that it can occur between any two people. If they form any other bond, the previous one will be erased. This will happen whether they bite or are bitten.

Betas, however, can hold multiple bonds, called ‘pack bonds’. Packs, and other larger family structures, require beta ‘heads’ to link them psychically together. Betas will have different limits to how many bonds they can support, and as they near their limit may start experiencing mental fog, exhaustion, memory loss, and migraines. Betas usually weaken as they get older, but, on the other hand, increased skill may mean they can still hold as many, or even more, bonds as they did in their youth. A pack bond will not erase a mating bond, nor will a mating bond erase a pack bond.

Obstructions to Bonding

Because bonding requires emotional connection between minds, mental differences can make bonds more challenging.

Cultural/Language Differences

Sufficient differences in culture can lead to mismatched mappings in the mind that may be a struggle to interpret. While bonds do not require language, they do require compatible concepts. If two cultures or languages organize, for example, emotions in very different ways, it may be difficult for someone to interpret emotional information from a bondmate that the bondmate considers a single concept, but the receiver breaks into multiple boxes. A very scientifically minded person may struggle to communicate with a very fluid-thinking, emotionally-lead person. This is one of the reasons that groups sometimes practice fostering - partially raising the potential mate can let them acclimate to a bondgroup, leading to more fluid, deeper communication.

Intellectual Disability and Brain Damage

The different processing speed and understanding can make bonds between undisabled and disabled brains challenging. The disabled person may take longer to learn the bonds, or may only be able to understand their head, or the people who put work into connecting with them. While most experienced heads CAN learn to stabilize such a bond, inexperienced, impatient, or intolerant heads may not have the necessary skill. Given time and patience most groups can incorporate even profoundly disabled individuals.

Sudden brain injuries may be more dangerous. While death of a bond mate can be traumatic, it usually isn't dangerous. The sudden void of brain death, or a drop in mental function, can act like a vacuum, pulling bond mates in as the struggle to stabilize the injured person. However, with prep, or experience, a group can learn an injured mind, and even assist in the person's healing journey.

Mood and Anxiety Disorders

Mood and anxiety disorders are some of the hardest experiences for bondgroups to accommodate. Many of these disorders affect the neurotransmitters involved in bond maintenance and interpretation, leading to bonds that can unpredictably start 'lagging' or 'speeding up'. Bonds can also start to feel 'heavy', and almost painful to communicate through, or vary in 'volume', suddenly becoming clearer/louder, or muddy/vague. People may not be able to control what emotions are sent, and may be unable to either 'shield' what the feel, or let down their 'shields'. With some disorders, the mind may not be able to properly classify what is being felt, and may send the 'wrong' emotions or sensations through bonds.

When issues with neurotransmitters are involved, medication is often the best treatment. While bondmates can provide a lot of support, they have limited ability to change people's neurochemistry. However, reality checks and assistance with emotional regulation from bondmates can do a lot to ease the burden of these disorders.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Neurodevelopmental disorders - things like ADHD, autism, and communication disorders - (what's most often meant when talking about 'neurodivergence'), often affect bonds in ways similar to cultural and language differences. Mapping thoughts and emotions into compatible shapes can be difficult, even when bondmates have been together since childhood. There are also difficulties that overlap with intellectual disabilities - differences in processing speed and understanding. Finally, abnormalities with neurotransmitters may lead to difficulties similar to mood and anxiety disorders. And bonds BETWEEN these types of neurodivergent people may be as difficult, or MORE difficult, than bonds with other bondmates. (Or far easier. It's unpredictable!)

Like other types of challenging bonds, however, with experience these bonds are very possible. And groups often find that the differences are stimulating and rewarding. Groups that have varied members tend to produce flexible, resilient, members who are good at problem solving, and adapt to changes quickly.

Bond Disorders

There are a variety of disorders that can impact ability to form, hear, and/or communicate through bonds. Only one ability may be impacted, or multiple. Abilities may be completely lost, altered, or limited. A person may be able to form bonds and hear their bondmates, but not communicate, for example. Or they may only be able to form temporary bonds, where they can communicate normally, but only partially understand what they hear. Or they may only be able to form a single mating bond, and even that can sometimes cause headaches and nausea. Etc. Some disorders respond to therapy, medication, or surgery, while others must be adapted to.

Psychotic Disorders

Psychotic disorders can also make stable bonds challenging. Forming bonds during periods of disordered thinking requires a skilled head, and it's usually better to choose periods of relative stability, if possible. But bonds can be more effective at stabilizing many mental illnesses than Earth medications, with bond mates being taught how to provide reality checks, assist with disordered thinking, and support emotional regulation. This can limit people's ability to manage their condition on their own, and possibly leave them dependent on abusive or neglectful caregivers. However, since unmanaged psychotic disorders are considered a failing of the community, rather than of the individual, outside assistance is more readily available, and usually less judgmental than Earth services tend to be.

Personality Disorders

Personality disorders are not a single category in the omegaverse, though many Earth personality disorders are present. Because of the complicated interplay between genetics, environment, and experience, many experiences are instead grouped under 'Traumatic Disorders' (similar to PTSD, but a broader category with more specific diagnoses), 'Neglect Disorders' (focused on the more physical aspects of deprivation (physical, emotional, and intellectual), substance abuse, and other environmental harm), and 'Relational Disorders' (the emotional/intellectual effects of longer term unhealthy relationships, neglect, abuse, and bullying). It's recognized that these maladaptive behavioural patterns are often learned, or develop as a protective mechanism. A child/teen being diagnosed with related conditions will often initiate social work involvement, and their bondgroup being investigated. They may be pressured by bondmates to hide symptoms, or lie, to avoid possibly being separated from their loved ones.

While these disorders do not make forming bonds more difficult, they can make it more difficult to keep bonds stable and balanced. And these behaviours can 'spread'. Bondmates may learn maladaptive behaviours/thought patterns in response to seeing them work for other bondmates, or in an attempt to protect themselves from having those same behaviours turned on themselves. On the other hand, these disorders often respond well to healthy bonds, with individuals stabilizing as they learn what acceptance, love, and healthy conflict resolution feel like.

Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities can affect bonds if they affect how thoughts are organized in the mind. Some learning disabilities will have no affect, others will cause affects similar to language differences and neurodevelopmental disorders.