[kikki]

I came across a different part of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex. The dysfunction of this part of the brain I could see explaining a lot of the MLC behavior.

Amongst these threads is my googling on that exact brain area.  It really hits the nail on the head for me too.

Research has shown that childhood trauma puts people at risk for non coping behaviours and mental/personality disorders of all kinds.
Chicken or egg - is the cause biologically genetic, or purely environmentally triggered?
I suspect both.
Epigenetics and Bruce Lipton - his thinking is interesting to read about

[Anjae]

Research has shown that childhood trauma puts people at risk for non coping behaviours and mental/personality disorders of all kinds.

I don't disagree that childhood trauma can play a part, but I don't think that is valid for all mood/personality disorders.

Head trauma, from accident or other, can also be a factor. Or it can be how the person's brain is wired from birth.

We know that there are risk factors, but we still don't know enough. Also, an illness can come from different sources.

Chicken or egg - is the cause biologically genetic, or purely environmentally triggered?
I suspect both

Who knows? The only thing we seem to be able to spot is that stress, a lot of it can lead to MLC and if not all, most of our MLCer were under a lot of stress at BD.

RCR and HB did not went the biology/neurobiology route. They are more in tune with psycology, psychoanalysis and development stages. Even if, at least RCR, acknowledges and talks a lot about depression.

Each contribution is useful and allows for debate.   

[kikki]

Agree Anjae

[Ready2Transform]

I agree that all of it is in the soup, and to what degree involves the individual. That's a softer stance toward the childhood issues than what I took initially. The more research that comes to light (and the neurotransmitter stuff is still relatively new science, which is why it wasn't part of the discourse before), the deeper we go. Like peeling back the layers of an onion, the inner core does not negate the outer that we initially saw. I'm grateful for what HB and RCR have done, and it inspires me to do my own research, too. I don't think either woman intended to be a means to an end.

[Roma]

Progress

Midlife Crisis Takes TIME

By Kenda-Ruth Stumpf

In Brief, MLC is about unresolved issues from childhood or adolescence. The MLCer must now resolve these issues and reintegrate the fragmented portions of the Self. Since these are issues of a younger person, they need to be resolved by that younger Self--thus the MLCer will regress in age.

https://thestagesandlessonsofmidlife.org/the-children-of-the-mid-lifers-issues/

https://thestagesandlessonsofmidlife.org/a-deeper-look-at-the-children-of-the-mid-lifers-issues/

There is  more in the MLCers Acceptance stage. I must have read everything written on MLC at least 50 times . Are you kidding me? lol Have you seen the state my H is in? I HAD to read on it! No need for debate,at least not for me

I would suggest if the MLCer is not doing these things then it's a probability it's just not MLC.

This site is about standing for our spouse while they go through MLC.  Self Focus.

[Not Applicable]

For me it's not the depression so much that it explains, but rather the muddled thinking. Others have mentioned the prefontal cortex and the amygdala. These two parts are responsible for emotions. But the ACC regulates emotional conflict between various options. And we have to admit there is a lot of emotional conflict in the MLCers that isn't getting regulated. Hence all the confusion.

The ACC plays a role in appropriate responses. to a lot of stimuli In taking appropriate decisions. Read this section of the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterior_cingulate_cortex#Functions

And read this too: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3647221/

If you think about these functions being impaired, then the saying "Don't believe anything they say and half of what they do" makes sense.

There's an example I saw in my husband the other day. He was complaining about something and talking about how he wanted a situation to be (it didn't involve me). Literally 2-3 minutes later he took an action opposite of what one would have expected him to take if he indeed wanted the situation to be as he said he wanted it. My jaw dropped to the floor. There was a total disconnect between what he wanted and what he did.

[Thunder]

Ready, I am very grateful to RCR for all the research she has done, too. 

I guess we can only go by what we experience and what we read.  If childhood issues are the problem with some then so be it.  If the MLCer has no childhood issues (and some don't) then their MLC is caused by something else.

With all the different medical experts out there not one of them have come up with only one reason for this.  Maybe some day with all this research people will have more concrete answers.

[Mermaid]

With all the different medical experts out there not one of them have come up with only one reason for this.  Maybe some day with all this research people will have more concrete answers.

The tendency in research is to find there is no simple concrete answer to anything much, especially in brain and behaviour.

I don't think MLC is just one thing. There are too many differences. So looking for a cause, or defining this as one thing, is an anomaly.

[Roma]

The reason there is just not one reason is because each MLCer has had different things in their life that brought them to this point.

Sometimes things were just so bad, the MLCer's brain may have just shut it out, repressed the memory where it would take much longer to recover from.

Or

If there are NO childhood issues, then it's not MLC. It's something else. MLC is about finally healing childhood issues.

Are there threads on what people can do to better there mirror work? Or GAL suggestions? Isn't this site about the LBS, and not the MLCer? What about learning new ways Detaching? I wonder, just how detached are we if we spend valuable LBS time 'debating' MLC?

[Thunder]

El, if that is your opinion that's ok.
But all of us with MLCer's have our opinions, too.   

That's what we are all sharing here.  Our opinions by our research and experiences.  No two MLCer's are the same.

My opinion is it's not so black and white.  Not enough research has been done to say it's only one thing.
But if you're convinced it's from childhood issues only then I respect your opinion.

I want to respect everyone's opinions.  That's how we learn.