What is it called when a man has never separated well from his mother?

[candybarfallingstar]

Dh is obsessed with his, scared to anger her and sides with her over every thing. We are going to relate, but I wanted to know whether this has a name. It reminds me of Jimmy Saville and The Duchess!

Oedipus complex?

I was like this in my late teens/early 20's. Now I see her for the toxic parent she is. I think of it as being a bit like Stockholm Syndrome, where you fall in love with/hero worship your abductor/torturer as a coping mechanism. FOG (fear, obligation, guilt) is also a very accurate description of how an adult child can feel about their parent.

My ex?

Are you a man, puttheshelvesup?

Tied to the apron strings?

No. Is gender relevant?

Insecure attachment? It's a theory from Bowlby and others who studied infant/child behaviour.

Yes, icenoslice.

Puttheshelvesup, yes, I was specifically asking about men.

Any adult child is capable of feeling the way your dh does about his mother, as far as I know.

Oedepus complex

as opposed to

Electra Complex

I think it's called prioritising his dm over his partner.

The reason for it though could be many.

My dh admitted he had never stood up to his dm until she told us not to marry. I wonder what would have happened had she not acted so outrageously which forced dh's hand.

Freud's theories are unstable and not really psychologically relevant, he was a misogynist, crack smoking twit. Stockholm syndrome is probably more realistic in this scenario

Mommy's Boy is one name I've heard for it, or Tied to Her Apron Strings - but I guess you wanted formal diagnosis-type words... Sorry. In the end he will have to stand up to her....

It's called enmeshment

This affects my family, my brother mostly, although I also have attachment issues. Google maternal enmeshment, or mother son enmeshment.

I don't know that it's fair to call Freud a misogynist. I think he was just a product of his zeitgeist. Everyone was misognyistic in those days! And his theories still underpin every psychotherapeutic approach today, so he's still very relevant.

Glad you said that as I was chuntering at the bit.