Essay Sample. Adrian Monk's Demographic and Social History

We are introduced to an obsessive-compulsive disorder character by the name of Adrian Monk who is 51 years of age. The character is a widowed male with no single child. However, in the TV show, Adrian Monk indicates no signs of physical ailments as well as other health problems. Moreover, he doesn't have any history of alcohol or drug abuse. The monk works at the San Francisco police department specifically as a consultant in cases to do with homicide. Notably, the monk is obsessed with a high level of neatness and order, and as a result, he troubles functioning globally. Notably, these symptoms were evident, especially during his childhood, but seem to have been worse by the death of his wife. Adrian's monk goals and ambitions are mainly to extinguish the several phobias he suffers from so that he can experience a certain level of happiness in his life. Obsessive-compulsive disorder has greatly affected Adrian Monk's social life since his social circle is very small, consisting of a few co-workers, such as his personal assistant who are used to his condition.

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Discussion of Potential Diagnosis

The primary diagnosis for Adrian Monk seemed to be an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Notably, this disorder is categorized in anxiety disorder. In the show, Mr. Monk seems to have both compulsions as well as an obsession as a result of his concern over hurtles objects. For instance, Mr. Monk had strong anxiety for milk, specifically due to feelings of fear and anxiety. Also, Adrian's compulsion to touching things such as wood categorizes him as a candidate for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

According to Adrian monk statement in the TV show, his parents were very overprotective and strict on him during his childhood. His father abandoned him together with the family when he was just eight years of age, and his mother has been deceased from the year 1994. However, the mental history of his two parents is not known, but his brother (Ambrose) is struggling with agoraphobia. The most significant catalyst of Adrian's monk behavior appears to be the death of his loving wife (Trudy), who was killed in the car bombing. Besides, Adrian worked for the SFPD as a homicide detective; however, he received a discharge as a result of the death of his wife in a tragic manner. As a result of Trudy's death, Mr. Monk retreated to his home, where he refused to leave for three years. Due to continuous help from his assistant, Mr. Monk has slowly entered out into the new world again. However, he still suffers from compulsion, fears, and extreme obsession. This has dramatically led to Adrian being unable to find a better solution to his wife homicide hence causing him emotional distress.

The only important person in Adrian's life is his assistant, who helped him tremendously in performing his duties beyond what was being needed of him. He helped Adrian starting from his workplace as well as individual life. Being a police consultant, he had two deputies who understood his problem, and they did their best to make him not to undergo a traumatic condition. They were responsible to the extent of providing an anti-bacterial hand wipe to cover him from pathogens he feared most.

From the TV show, it appears that Adrian monk mainly suffers from an obsessive-compulsive disorder, which mainly hinders him from carrying out his everyday tasks, for instance, social interaction, shopping, and driving. For instance, obsessive-compulsive disorder has greatly affected the Adrian Monk social life since his social circle is very small, consisting of a few co-workers, such as his personal assistant who are used to his condition. On shopping, Mr. Monk experienced anxiety in situations that do not cause anxiety for a number of people. Moreover, Adrian Monk had an experience of the feeling of fear while driving.

As a consultant at the SFPD, Adrian monk was required to regularly visit the crime scenes and carry out a proper evaluation of evidence. Fortunately, his photographic memory massively aids him in carrying out his duties perfectly. However, due to consistent anxiety, the monk was unable to use his talents adequately. For example, in one instance, Mr. Monk visited a crime scene that had a burnt bulb; surprisingly, he was unable to carry out his duties until the burnt bulb had to be changed. In another scenario, Mr. Monk was unable to carry out his daily duties since a police officer had not zipped up properly. Lastly, Mr. Monk is highly obsessed with cleaning household appliances, for instance, house vacuums. In one instance, while working as an undercover at a certain bank, Mr. Monk added his personal money to various deposit accounts with the aim of the amounts being wholly in dollars.

Conclusion and Treatment Recommendations

In a nutshell, we are introduced to an obsessive-compulsive disorder character by the name Adrian Monk who is 51 years of age. The character is a widowed male with no single child. However, in the TV show, Adrian monk indicates no signs of physical ailments as well as other health problems. Moreover, he doesn't have any history of alcohol or drug abuse. The monk works at the San Francisco police department specifically as a consultant in cases to do with homicide.

The treatment for Mr. Monk could comprise of prescription for an SSRI medication. SSRI medication has the ability to maximize Adrian's serotonin production. Significantly, this could greatly help in the minimization of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. A recommendation for instance behavior therapy, medication, particular exposure therapy consisting of response prevention should be considered since it will necessarily involve exposing Mr. Monk to certain things he fears the most. Since Mr. Monk involves obsessive-compulsive symptoms he had primarily possessed, it would be time-consuming to carry out. Lastly, due to Adrian's emotional distress and inability to establish an interpersonal relationship as a result of the death of his loving wife, the grief counseling should be introduced to him to aid in developing his behavior as well as a bolster in improving his relationship with others.