[Dontgiveup]

My thought on the topic.  From what I understand, professionals are trained to diagnose.  MLC is not an official diagnosis.

[OnMyJourney]

My h saw a therapist the day before BD.  The therapist told him he was depressed and having a midlife crisis so some therapists must be recognizing it.

OMJ

[Trustandlove]

The therapist that my H saw said that he only heard the bits he wanted to hear and totally disregarded anything else.  Total refusal to look at himself. 

[fornow]

Hi,

Psychologists are no different to any other mainstream scientists/doctors.  They stick with what they know and with what is written in their DMV manual.  MLC is not a condition found in the DMV manual and so it is not part of their bag of diagnostic tools. It’s that simple - as a person who has spent her life in scientific methodology it takes a very unique scientist to break the mould and think outside the box.  Most scientists/doctors are limited by their training.  But then again aren’t we all limited by our perceptions???

It scientists like Einstein who made wonderful new discoveries because he chose not to stick within the confines of scientific methodologies and beliefs of his time.  Maybe we need an out of the box therapist.

Having said this i also struggle with accepting MLC as a theory - yes my H had a personality change etc, etc, etc but i am beginning to realize that the parts of his personality he is showing now "his shadow" if you will, was there at times - i saw glimpses of it.  Maybe now the MLCer just chooses to express their shadow with more vigor because they are living in fear.

I think at times we are so afraid of what life without H might mean that we hang onto any sign of hope and a therapist that doesn’t give us that hope by believing in MLC just makes us feel so demoralized and disheartened.  I think this is the time when we are most confused and scared and I think the only answers lie within, we need to turn to our inner knowingness, and look for signs of hope from within. 

Therapists do not have all the answers, like us they are limited, they are human.

Take care

[Moving Forward]

I read a fascinating book called 'The Psychopath Test - A Journey Into The Madness Industry' by a journalist called Jon Ronson - it isn't fiction and gives an very interesting glimpse into the world of diagnosis and impact of people with mental health issues.

I am not saying my exH is a psychopath but he has increasingly displayed these behaviours -particularly towards me - but I foudn the book an interesting non MLC read and has helped fit pieces of the jigsaw in place for me!

Loved your last post fornow - succinctly put!

Peace to all today - from a wet and blustery UK!

[Doc Hudson]

I am not saying my exH is a psychopath but he has increasingly displayed these behaviours -particularly towards me

If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck...

[Moving Forward]

ha ha ha Doc - I know!!! However I am trying very hard not to 'label' my exH as a Psychopath.....in the book it explains that people can exhibit psychopath like tendencies but it could be a temporary situation!

Time will do it's thing of that I am sure and I'll eventually see whether my analysis is a hit or a miss!

[Trustandlove]

I've had people wonder if my H wasn't bi-polar; I think MLC mimics all sorts of things; brings out all sorts of things that were under control, etc. 

We ALL have less-than-desirable parts of our personalities, it's just that we pretty much automatically keep them under control in life.  In MLC those controls fail, and all the nasty bits come out.

I do think it is temporary, it's just that the 'temporary' can be very, very long. 

I know that in my case my 'real' H really isn't bipolar, nor is he a selfish pig.  But sometimes it's a bit hard to remember that.  We have to remember to think clearly.

[BonBon]

H and I were watching TV the other night and narcissists were mentioned.  He said he thought he knew what that meant in general but wanted to be sure so I googled it and read off the symptoms.
I could see that he was terribly, awfully uncomfortable.  I don't believe he is a true narcissist but certainly, fit the criteria while in heavy replay.  He knew it too.

Therapists can't know every malady like the back of their hand and since MLC has always been just a punchline for most people, I'm sure its just never had the research necessary to show this is a true issue for many people.  Let's hope that changes in the future but certainly there are underlying diagnoseable issues but that's assuming an MLCer will tell the truth to the therapist...if you are in therapy as an LBS, the focus is on you, not the person who is hurting you so that could be another block in the road to recognition. 

[Thundarr]

I don't know if you recall but a few weeks ago I posted some tidbits from a conversation with a doctor I work with.  His belief is that for there to be a diagnosis of something like that you would need to first rule out medical conditions and since the MLCer thinks nothing is wrong then those tests are not likely to ever happen.