They really don't understand what is happening nor why. One day they are feeling fine and the next it's poof! Actually it is a very gradual thing for them and for us as well. It happens over a very long period of time and then the depression really drags them down.
Up until a few years ago, MLC was considered the red sports car, the young chick on the arm of an older man, gold chains wrapped around the neck and the shirt unbuttoned to the naval. People thought it was just "acting out" one last time, never realizing the depth of the mlc to a person.
Women, on the other hand, were coined the phrase "she's going through the change of life" when they acted witchy and all over the board.
No matter what it is coined--it's depression and hormones all mixed up in the mix that is creating a lot of the topsy turvey stuff we are all witnessing.
Not many of them will fess up that they are experiencing an mlc unless it's a very, very mild one. The more intensive, damaging ones will not admit it for one minute. At least, the ones I've spoken to. That's why it's best to let it ride out and not raise the issue of mlc w/them until they've cooled their jets a bit because they will deny it until the cows come home. So, keep it to yourself and just be someone to lean on, if the need should arise. There's nothing you can do, but let them go and experience life as they never knew it for a while.
Sit quietly, the answers will reveal themselves when you least expect them to. The past is gone, the present is a gift and you need to focus on today, allow the future to reveal itself when it is ready.
