[calamity]

I was excited that someone actually mentioned MLC instead of pretending it doesn't exist.  That has to be a positive.

I agree.  But I have a lot more faith in Robert Sapolsky mentioning mlc [& he does, so often that I wondered if he was having one!].  Anyway much of the brain research is new--I was in university 15 years ago, studying a course in developmental psychology & no mention of all this at that time.  We were still going with life & developmental stages of what's his name [my 'stage' is forgetfulness...] Erickson!

It is all food for thought tho.  Becoming aware of all this, it will be difficult for my d & nieces & nephews to be unaware of mlc.  Little by little we will educate the world.  Really, my d said, her & her friends were discussing their families--2 dads with mlc & 1 father in law [& very little chance it is anything but mlc I swear]--all girls who realize that they have to be & remain always, independent in all respects.

[MyBrainIsBroken]

As for the ADHD and MLC and MLC and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's I don't really see the correlation.

I was also questioning this. But I can see the following being related to MLC.

Stage 1. Children experience different degrees of trauma related to
learning, behavior and social challenges. The inability to excel in the
classroom or form supportive friendships can seriously limit one’s
happiness, self-image and self-esteem along with his or her ability to trust.

My wife is dyslexic and I wonder how much that has contributed to her MLC if only because of the damage it would have done to her self-esteem. When we were in school she would have just been considered stupid. Pair that with a physically and emotionally abusive father and I think the stage is set for midlife problems due in part to a traumatic childhood.

[kikki]

  Calamity, yes many of us are up to that same stage of forgetfulness.

I too am a big Robert Sapolsky fan but find it incredibly frustrating that he bandies the words MLC around without ever explaining what he believes it to actually be. 
Or at least I haven't ever heard him explain it.

There are other studies that have been done that link long term untreated depression to increased amounts of dementia (think I may have posted something on one of these threads).

My wife is dyslexic and I wonder how much that has contributed to her MLC if only because of the damage it would have done to her self-esteem. When we were in school she would have just been considered stupid. Pair that with a physically and emotionally abusive father and I think the stage is set for midlife problems due in part to a traumatic childhood.

MBIB. There's a study on one of these threads that I posted about a british scientist/Dr who is researching the impact on young brains from trauma etc.  He is working in Australia.

[Anjae]

It is always good when someone mentions MLC. Even if, at least now, if one googles MLC there will be many articles about it. However I thing most of them confuse midlife transition with MLC. Or, at least, few address the type of MLC we deal with.

Robert Sapolsky does talk a lot about it, but like Kikki said, he never really explains what he believes it to be.

Yes, I think it is possible for untreated depression (or at least some kinds of depression) to lead to dementia.

My wife is dyslexic and I wonder how much that has contributed to her MLC if only because of the damage it would have done to her self-esteem. When we were in school she would have just been considered stupid. Pair that with a physically and emotionally abusive father and I think the stage is set for midlife problems due in part to a traumatic childhood.

Those could be contributing factors. But I'm not convinced that childhood issues alone are the cause of MLC. Many people have terrible childhoods and never have MLC. Others have nice, or ok childhoods and have MLC. Kikki will say that it depends of how the adults handled the trauma the child suffered.

For me the thing is, unless with the obvious things that are considered trauma, abuse (the case with your wife), rape, a violent accident, etc, it is impossible to know what each child will consider trauma. So, it really is not possible for the adults to respond if they do not identify something being a trauma for the child.

I still think excessive stress (the cortisol induced one) and all it causes, is, if not the one cause, one of the main causes of MLC. Depression probably follows stress. Then it all becomes a giant mess.

MBIB, given your wife's age, it is possible that her dyslexia had also contributed to her lack of self-esteem. I'm dyslexic, but mine is very mild. I was a bright kid, so, it pretty much passed unnoticed (it only tends to show when I'm very tired. I will write "write" instead of "right", will change the order of the letters in some words, etc). My younger sister is also dyslexic. She is 15 years younger than I am, and when she was a child it was severe. She had special classes (when she attended school teachers and parents were all already alert for the needs of dyslexic children), but, unlike for me, languages remain very challenging for her.

I've split the previous thread and put the links to the former one as well as the ones to the other neuroscience/neurochemistry threads on the bottom of the first post of this thread. 

[kikki]

I've split the previous thread and put the links to the former one as well as the ones to the other neuroscience/neurochemistry threads on the bottom of the first post of this thread.

Great, thank you Anjae.
I completely forgot

[MyBrainIsBroken]

Anjae, I don't know how severe my wife's dyslexia is because I have nothing to compare it to, but her spelling is awful. She would often ask our 13 yo granddaughter how to spell words. Reading is kind of difficult for her and occasionally, when excited about something, she'll fumble for words when she's trying to talk. She also has a difficult time with basic math.

My D31 and I were discussing whether my GS6 who will be 7 in a few weeks might be dyslexic. He's still having a lot of trouble with writing some letters backwards and he does the same with some numbers.

[patience.of.a.saint]

As for the ADHD and MLC and MLC and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's I don't really see the correlation.

My MLCer has ADD and I can see how it can correlate if they go untreated as children. Mine was a naughty child, impulsive, didn't pay attention, always seeking attention. His mom was embarrassed by him and ended up being abusive because she did not understand his needs or how to handle him with patience. He thinks his mother does not love him. He has low self-esteem because she never approved of anything he did, but everything he did could've been prevented either with meds or her at least knowing what he had and finding out enough about it to understand his behavior. She still does not accept that he has ADD and that it is the cause of how he acts. She is disgusted by him most of the time. He has probably the lowest self worth of anyone I have ever met because of how he has been treated by his mom. Low self worth, depression, all of it for him stems from his childhood and untreated ADD. In his case, it really is a natural progression now that I know more about it.

Knowing what I know about ADD, I would say that if it has been treated or the person has the awareness of it and has coping mechanisms in place, then just simply having ADD is not going to automatically lead to MLC. I have also read that there are various types of ADD and some are worse than others. Of the 6 or 7 types, I did the online quiz and he very strongly qualifies for 5 types, compared to me, who barely has 2. He's on Adderall....I manage mine as needed with an occasional caffeine and a lot of alarms & things set up so I don't forget or lose track.

I can also see where the ADD could eventually lead to a dementia situation. I have an aunt who has been diagnosed with dementia. I'd be willing to bet she had ADD as well. Looking back, she had to have gone through an MLC when she divorced her husband of 25years and immediately married another man, which lasted a few years and then she divorced him too and moved from CO to SD. She was seeking happiness she hadn't found. She drank a lot of beer as well, which I have read can lead to a form of dementia.

So I can see it happening. I'm sure it's not happening to everyone with ADD or ADHD, but I can see a correlation easily with my MLCer.

[Anjae]

MyBrainIsBroken, from what you write your wife's dyslexia is more severe than my sister's one. Or it may be the same but my sister received treatment and that has made a big difference.

My sister can spell workds and she is an avid reader (sometimes she even manages to read a little English - we're Portuguese). But, at times, especially if she is tired, she has to go back and re-read a sentence, paragraph or page. My sister either fumbles for words or misspel them if she is very tired or angry. Basic math is not a problem for my sister. And she manages to understand a bit of English and French, and speak a little, especially of basic English.

My MLCer has ADD and I can see how it can correlate if they go untreated as children. Mine was a naughty child, impulsive, didn't pay attention, always seeking attention.

But your MLCer had ADD that was not treated. Most of us have MLCer who had no ADD or ADHD. So, it may correlate for someone who had it when he/she was a kid and it was not treated,  but that correlation does not make sense for those who did not have it.

[patience.of.a.saint]

My MLCer has ADD and I can see how it can correlate if they go untreated as children. Mine was a naughty child, impulsive, didn't pay attention, always seeking attention.

But your MLCer had ADD that was not treated. Most of us have MLCer who had no ADD or ADHD. So, it may correlate for someone who had it when he/she was a kid and it was not treated,  but that correlation does not make sense for those who did not have it.

It would seem that there are many triggers for MLC, but I took the article to mean that if they had untreated ADD/ADHD, that they would eventually have a MLC, not that all MLCers have ADD. There are also many adults out there who have it and do not know they do because so many people think it is just a focus thing. There are also the people who think it's overdiagnosed and don't want to believe that it even IS a thing. I have read several books on it and just from that amount of reading, I can spot them from a mile away...kind of like we can all spot a MLCer from a mile away now. I would guess that there are more ADD spouses here than you think. They are just undiagnosed and probably not as ADD as mine is.

[Ready2Transform]

I absolutely agree, patience.  I definitely feel it was a contributing factor for my own breakdown, but had never been diagnosed.  As a kid there were many parent/teacher conferences to discuss how I was a bright kid who "spaced out" during class a lot, and I remember being very frustrated by it - would try to concentrate but before I knew it the teacher would be talking and I'd lost a few minutes in a daydream.  As I got older I would beat myself up over not meeting goals because of distractions - but it felt very compulsive.  I am clearer minded now than I have ever been and can easily get lost in an activity where I lose hours (in a good way).  I have a very solid and stable nutritional regime including supplements and whole foods, meditation time, and exercise.  Couldn't do it without that.  Even taking one day off, I start to revert back.