I also agree that they have no sense of identity, but it makes no sense to me why they make the leap to giant @$$holes. One would think that if they are trying on new personalities, they'd want to become someone better received than the one they exhibited before.
There you go Beyond, thinking like a rational person.
Thing is, if you believe MLC might be real, MLC is not rational.
Mine also throughout life hovered in the @sshole category to many people. Thing is, before his leap into giant @sshole, the one thing I always gave him is he ALWAYS put family first, until now.
So if he was looking for a change why would one choose down in the gutter instead of reaching higher to something better??
IMO, I think this is where the OP comes into play.
Now, I have never been one to blame the OP. Yes, I believe they suck BUT I didn't marry the girl so I don't get into the "it's all her fault" game BUT.... this is for trying to understand reasons only.
These MLCers are weak. Especially Vanishers, they are cowards to the highest degree. I still believe something happened to my husband. His sudden changes and choices are just too weird for plain old, he fell out of love. I believe he lost the ability to make rational choices. I know that's a factor to why he was fired, he lost his ability to make decisions.
So here is a weak-minded, fire trucked up guy looking to escape. Now if he meets a rational person with high morals and he tries to run away with that person, they will reject him. Why? Because strong people do not hook up with married people.
That's why they hook up with fire trucked up people. They aren't looking for someone better than their spouses, they are looking for someone worse than themselves.
They met, they hook up, and they give all the power to this person. That way they no longer have to make decisions, the other person will do all the decision making for them.
I know for a fact that the girl use to walk around the scrap yard and make decisions for the Leaver. He handed all the power to her. It was like Monica Lewinsky running the country.
So of course, the OP is weak-minded and can't believe their luck they get to lead around and make decisions for, these formally good men. Sometimes I wonder if they get off on seeing how low they can make these men go.
No wonder these guys are hiding. Even they probably can't believe how low they have sunk.