[kikki]

https://www.ted.com/talks/andres_lozano_parkinson_s_depression_and_the_switch_that_might_turn_them_off#t-146917

This is pretty amazing. Take a look at the chart at 2 mins.
Different parts of the brain do different things (which we know).
But also that brain functions are localised within circuits -

Movement
Vision
Appetite
Body image
Happiness/sadness
love/hate
avarice/generosity/empathy
drive/ambition
judgement and empathy
memory and cognition

Easy to see which parts have been ramped up, and which parts have stopped working in the crisis.
There's a part for avarice? No wonder they mostly become so greedy and self serving from a financial aspect.
And there's a love/hate part.  Wonder if that's why we suddenly are so repellant to them?

[Anjae]

Thank you for the links, iamnottheenemy and Backtome.

But also that brain functions are localised within circuits -

Yes they are. In the Neurons, Synapses and Brains course we had to learn Rall Cable Theory and several other electric related things. It was a very tough course. At least for me, a creature from the humanities, it was.

We also talked about deep brain stimulation and had the videos/charts to see which part would light.

There is far more than just brain chemicals, the whole electric part, how it rightly (or wrongly) wired, how it is lubricated, how it is conducting, is very important.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfrid_Rall - Wilfrid Rall, the neuroscientist who come up with Rall Cable Theory.

[Anjae]

not MLC per se, but an interesting essay by a former partner of a bipolar sufferer -

http://aeon.co/magazine/being-human/bipolar-disorder-ravaged-my-friends-life/

Is it just me or Hank, the guy in that article, did in fact had a MLC (that someone took for bipolar, since they can be very similar)?

"That was the first signal that he was unravelling, seized by a mania that would shatter every mooring to the life he had built over 58 years. Within six months, he would lose his job and blow his retirement savings on fancy guitars, $400 shirts from Saks (no more 75-per-cent-off sales at Macy’s!), and catering for parties no one attended. He would alienate friends and agitate neighbours and, battered by the storm in his brain, sway on the precipice of homelessness."

He had an episode of mania at 58, after problems with his job. That is exactly the type of stuff that happens to our MLCers. Bipolar is just a little more well known than MLC.

[Pixiegirl]

Very interesting story on bipolar. I've got my thinking cap on. So many similarities.

[kikki]

It is an interesting comparison.  No OW though.  ?

[Ready2Transform]

I know in a lot of bipolar mania, there will be OPs.  I read on one site there is a 90% divorce rate for bipolar sufferers, and there was never a standing forum, but several 'divorce recovery' forums I found on those sites. 

Could be in this case either the author didn't know about any OW, or he could have been one of them that didn't go that route.  I think if my H truly is bipolar, that his mania prior was expressed with illogical spending to alleviate pain, and alcohol use.  I don't really suspect any other OW. 

But having said that...I agree with Anjae, that this is another MLC case.  It would be so incredibly rare, if not impossible, for a mood disorder to hit that late in life so randomly.  I do think we'll find MLC is somewhere on this spectrum someday, but I am fairly secure that it's a separate thing.

But also - I don't tell people that.  After I found this site I would sometimes tell people, "It's MLC!" and they would giggle, and say, "No, that's not what that is," due to the preconceived definition MLC carries with it.  But if I say, "bipolar," the same people want to pray for us both.  I go with that one publicly.

[Pixiegirl]

I find it so strange that people are willing to accept the diagnoses and just say "oh well, that's the way they are." I don't agree because it can be treated and people can live normal lives. I feel my H uses his diagnosis as a crutch to say and do whatever he wants without consequences.

If I would not have found this site I would not have believed that H was having an MLC. But the more similarities in the stories, the more I believe.

The things H has told me match so many of the same things I have read here. Too many similarities to not believe it is MLC.

[Anjae]

It would be so incredibly rare, if not impossible, for a mood disorder to hit that late in life so randomly.  I do think we'll find MLC is somewhere on this spectrum someday, but I am fairly secure that it's a separate thing.

Impossible it would not be since mood disorder can appear at any age (personality ones can not, at least to the extent of our current knowledge), but the guys story is text book MLC.

Not all MLCers, even with manic episodes, have OW/OM. And like you said, there could had been one, but people were not aware of it.

MLC, especially the high energy one, does mimic a lot of bipolar. But would we put MLC in mood or personality disorders? Mood, I would say. Mood disorders alter the personality, but they are not personality disorders.

I'm fairly certain that in the future there will be a way of treat/mitigate MLC. When? No idea.

Yes, if we say our spouse was diagnosed bipolar everyone is nice and sympathetic, if we say MLC, not so much. After all, MLC is a 20 years blonde bimbo, a red convertible and it lasts 6 months. 

[iamnottheenemy]

Agree with you, Ready2 and Anjae. I have taken to telling people that H is "undiagnosed and untreated bipolar" 'cause that seems more easily understood than "H is having an MLC."

[kikki]

Not all MLCers, even with manic episodes, have OW/OM. And like you said, there could had been one, but people were not aware of it.

It's rare though. It could very well be that the writer either chose to leave that piece of information out, or didn't know about anyone else.

MLC, especially the high energy one, does mimic a lot of bipolar. But would we put MLC in mood or personality disorders? Mood, I would say. Mood disorders alter the personality, but they are not personality disorders.

Agree with the mood disorder

Yes, if we say our spouse was diagnosed bipolar everyone is nice and sympathetic, if we say MLC, not so much. After all, MLC is a 20 years blonde bimbo, a red convertible and it lasts 6 months. 

I have taken to telling people that H is "undiagnosed and untreated bipolar" 'cause that seems more easily understood than "H is having an MLC."

I say the same thing now. 
Started by saying it was depression, but people wondered why he could keep working as the assumption was that he would be slumped on the sofa the whole time. 
Bipolar does seem to be a little more understood and I get interrogated less by others that way. (always a bonus).