Psychology Adrian Monk Essay

Adrian monastic, portrayed by actor Tony Shalhoub, is the main point of reference in the USA Network series MONK. monastic is a origin homicide detective for the San Francisco Police Department, suffering from an misgiving disorder known as obsessive- controlling disorder (OCD), as well as numerous phobias. by and by monks wife was murdered, his disorder worsened leading to his abeyance from the police force. When the series opens, monastic works as a private police homicide consultant and undergoes therapy to overtake his anxiety disorder and phobias. He is assist by a private nurse who helps him cope with his disability on the job.Part OneCase Study Character Background The outcome Happy Birthday Mr. monastic shows that Monk, born October, 17, 1959, is a California objet dart of Welsh ancestry. Monk is 50 long date old, and was born in Marin County, CA. He stated, His alma mater is the University of California, Berkley. His p atomic number 18nts were very strict an d authoritarian. Monks father darn Monk a gang one(a)d the family when Monk was eight years old. Jack state that he was going to get Chinese food, further he neer came back. Ambrose Monk, Monks brother, is agoraphobic and afraid to go out in public. Monks mom died in 1994.Because of these childhood family events, Monk is already a very sensitive and fragile somebody. Mr. Monk dislikes unorganized, rude, quaggy, and filthy mass. He also dislikes murderers, people who commit evil acts, and criminals on the loose. That is the reason he became a homicide detective. Mr. Monk likes people who help others, such as his atomic number 101 and Trudy. In addition, he likes organized, clean, and tidy people. Mr. Monks strength is that he is a very clever detective. Plus, he has an amazing photographic memory, which helps him realize criminals.His weakness is that he has m whatever phobias, which affect his performance as a detective. Mr. Monk doesnt support any friends because of the weir d and odd demeanors caused by his OCD. His family consists of his assistants/nurses Sharona, and then Natalie. He also works with people in the homicide department, videlicet Captain Leland Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Randy Disher. Stressors/Pathology Mr. Monk does non have any relationships with anyone, mainly because of his odd ways. He acts strangely in front people because of his OCD. In the episode Mr.Monk Makes A New Friend he annoys a new friend by calling him too much. Monk explains himself, stating, I cant non call him or pick up his voice. It is very annoying to call a friend both hour. That is one example of how Mr. Monk has difficulty with soulfulnessal relationships. His wife, Trudy Monk, with whom he had a meaning(prenominal) relationship, died in a car bomb. Before his wifes death, Mr. Monks OCD symptoms had palliate. After Trudy was murdered, the OCD symptoms intensified, and those around him could cl archeozoic see that he had issues, which moved(p) his job performance and led to his isolation.When the series begins, Mr. Monks former is somewhat stable, but his lives in an overly organized apartment. The battle Monk faces daily is how to build up it through the day with his OCD. He tries to avoid everything that makes him awkward or is viewed as a threat. Mr. Monk stresses over the fact that every mode essential be neat and tidy. Plus everything must be a binary of 10 for example he buys a calamity of eggs, which contains 12 eggs and deliberately throws two eggs a substance. Mr. Monk doesnt have any history of this disorder, but his brother was agoraphobic.Symptoms Other symptoms of OCD unadorned themselves typically as religious rite behavior such as continual get to washing. Mr. Monk asks to wash his runs every cartridge clip he touches an object or shakes a hand. He becomes obsessed with shapes. For example, his ruckle has to be a perfect square. Numbers occupy his time. As mentioned above, everything must come in multiples of 10. He has the typical preoccupation with darn and germs. For example, he cant stay in an untidy or assholey room he has to tidy it up. Mr. Monk is terrified of germs, milk, dust, and heights. So what Mr.Monk does all day is try to stay a way from all of these fears. These symptoms neer go forthd in the series alternatively, the viewer is led to believe that Mr. Monk had OCD since he was born. However, the viewer is also informed in conversations with the police sergeant and with Monks nurse and therapist that what triggered this disorder was the murder of his wife. Immediately subsequently his wife died, his disorder worsened. Outcome of Case Monks word was to go to Dr. Charles Kroger for psychotherapy that would aid him to cope with his disorder. In the sessions, Mr.Monk talks about what he did during the day and the goals he accomplished. The treatment is not completely effective, but it helps Mr. Monk relax and get all the stress out. In the long term, Mr. Monk cannot overcome his disorder because he cannot imagine that he can be be cured _or_ healedd. In addition, he is not a adventure taker, meaning he could never do anything that would make him uncomfortable. Because of this, there is smaller hope that he will be able to completely overcome his disorder. This makes sense because his disorder is inherited, and not attributed to environmental causes.Part Two ailment Diagnostic Criteria Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a pattern of happen obsessions and fatalitys that are severe enough to be time consuming and interject with a individuals daily functioning. They must cause pronounced distress (such as pain or physical harm to the person) or significant impairment. Usually, they take more than one hour of a persons time. It is important to specify whether or not the diligent has lamentable insight, meaning that the person does not realize that the obsessions or needs are wild or excessive.At some point, the person must realize that their obsessions and compulsions are not reasonable (i. e. , normal). Obsessions are consistent ideas, thoughts, impulses, or images that are go through as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or stress (DSM IV-TR, 300. 3). nigh common obsessions are about contamination with dirt or germs, recurrent doubts, a need to have things in a particular order, horrible impulse, the need to shout obscene words, or cozy impulses. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors which people do to deoxidize the anxiety or distress of the obsessions.For example, repeated hand washing is a compulsion, which satisfies the obsession of repeated thoughts of contamination from dirt. For a complete list of Diagnostic Criteria from the DSM IV-TR, see auxiliary A. Etiology (Causes) Nearly 1 to 2 percent of the population suffers from OCD. Most of those begin to be afflicted in early adulthood, and it is often preceded by a particularly stressful event such as pregnancy, chil dbirth, or family conflict. It may be closely associated with natural depression, with the disorder developing soon after a bout of depression or the depression developing as aresult of the disorder.Men and women are equally affected. A clean high proportion (as much as 50 percent) do not marry (Baldridge 2001). Although Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder usually begins in adolescence or early adulthood, it may begin in childhood. Modal age at flack is earlier in males than in females between ages 6 and 15 years for males and between ages 20 and 29 years for females. For the most part, onset is gradual, but acute onset has been noted in some cases. The majority of individuals have a chronic waxing and waning flesh, with exacerbation of symptoms that may be related to stress.About 15% show progressive deterioration in occupational and social functioning. About 5% have an episodic course with minimal or no symptoms between episodes (DSM IV-TR, 300. 3) No cause for OCD has been isolate d. quadruple theories exist which try to explain the basis of OCD psychologically offense, anxiety, and superstition. 1) The theory of guilt has its origins in Freudian psychoanalysis. Freud believed that patients with OCD developed repetitive rituals, such as hand washing, to change obsessive thoughts about sex.The obsessive ritual, then, was seen as a way to replace the guilt of being overwhelmed by forbidden, sexual thoughts. 2) The anxiety possibility poses that OCD behaviors develop to reduce anxiety. Many thought or action patterns emerge as a way of escape from stress, such as stargaze during an exam or cleaning ones room rather than studying for a test. If the stress is long lasting, then a compulsive behavior may set in. 3) The superstition theory proposes a affiliation between a chance association and a reinforcer that induces a continuation of that behavior.In other words, a particular neurotic ritual may be reinforced when a positive outcome follows the behavior a nxiety results when the ritual is interrupted. 4) A fourth theory is accepted by those who believe that mental disorders are the result of something physically or physiologically amiss in the sufferer, employing data from brain structure studies, genetics, and biointerpersonal chemistry. Brain chemistry has been found to be altered in those suffering from OCD, along with change magnitude metabolic activity.In addition, relatives of OCD sufferers are twice as likely as unrelated individuals to develop the same disorder, indicating that the tendency for the behavior could be inheritable (Baldridge 2001). Treatments OCD is one of the most difficult disorders to treat. Treatments usually fall into four categories psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, drug therapy, and psychosurgery. The goal of psychotherapy in treating OCD is to find and then carry an assumed repression so that the patient can deal honestly and openly with whatever is actually feared.It is hoped that in dealing with th e fear, the compulsions that have developed to replace the fear will lessen. The most effective type of psychotherapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder is behavioral therapy. It can help by desensitizing the patient to the feared object or situation. For example, the therapist will aid the patient in replacing the symptoms of the obsession or compulsion with stay freshive or reversal actions, such as a non vocal, internal shout of stop when obsessive thoughts enter the mind or the action of snapping a rubber band on the wrist.Behavioral therapy may also help by piecemeal lengthening the time between the stimulus and response. For example, a patient may hold dirt and then gradually lengthen the amount of time after which he or she will wash his or her hands. opus behavioral treatment can help to control OCD, it does not cure the disorder. Drugs used to treat OCD include antidepressants, tricyclic, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), LDS, and tryptophan. Antidepressants help by reducing depression by correcting the serotonin abnormality in the brain, which may decrease the need for compulsive behavior.MAOIs may help OCD associated with panic attacks, phobias, and severe anxiety. With drug therapy, it should be noted that when the drugs are stopped, the patient often returns to the obsessive-compulsive behavior. Psychosurgery to reduce OCD is a last resort. The patient would undergo a lobotomy in which the frontlet cortex would be separated from the lower brain area in an 8-centimeter square area. A combination of behavioral therapy, psychotherapy and drug therapy is recommended. global Research Behavioral treatments are new ways to deal with the disorder.For example, somebody with an obsession about germs might be asked to practice handling dirt and then not washing his hands for increasing lengths of time. With repeated mental picture to the anxiety-provoking object or situation without performing the compulsion, usually the anxiety lessens, and the co mpulsion weakens its hold. Obsessions can fall into one of five categories 1. Obsessive doubts, which are firm doubts that a task has been completed. 2. Obsessive thinking, which is an almost infinite chain of thought, targeting future tense events.Obsessive impulses, which are very strong urges to perform certain actions, whether they be trivial or serious, that would likely be harmful to the obsessive person or someone else and that are socially unacceptable. 4. Obsessive fears, which are thoughts that the person has lost control and will act in some way that will cause public embarrassment. 5. Obsessive images, which are continued ocular pictures of either a real or an imagined event. (DSM IV-TR, 300. 3) Compulsions on the other hand are repeated, ritualized behaviors.For example, fearing one has forgotten to turn off an thingmajig, such as a stove, is a common obsession. It is likely to be accompanied by a compulsion to check repeatedly, perhaps hundreds of multiplication e ach day, perhaps to see if the appliance has been turned off. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors, the goal of which is to prevent or reduce anxiety or distress, not to provide fun or gratification. In most cases, the person feels driven to perform the compulsion to reduce the distress that accompanies an obsession or to prevent some dreaded event or situation.For example, those with obsessions about being contaminate may reduce their mental distress by washing their hands until their skin is raw. at that place is difference between OCD and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). A personality disorder is, on the one hand, a type of mental affection characterized by serious and persistent distortions in the total personality. Every perception, attitude, intuitive feeling and behavior is affected. OCD, on the other hand, is an anxiety disorder. Like other anxiety disorders, fear is at its rootfear of a hot appliance burning down the house, for example, or fear of the body being contaminated by germs.The fear produces an anxiety which can only be alleviated by a ritual, or compulsion, which will reduce the fear. Conclusion rating of Case In conclusion, Adrian Monk has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. He satisfies the following OCD patterns of behavior 1. Washer, because he is afraid of contamination 2. Checker, because Mr. Monk repeatedly checks if the door is locked, or whether the oven is turned off. Mr. Monk checks everything a dozen time just to make sure. For example, he checks his oven if it is closed everyday at least twelve times 3.Arranger, because he always arranges his utensils found on size and shape and his books based on color. He cannot function in a messy room or disorganized room. In addition, Mr. Monk has other phobias, such as fear of blood and fear of the woods. He is terrified of germs, milk, heights, and spiders. Mr. Monk has a rule that everything he has must come as a multiple of ten. When he buys milk, he gets 10 bottles even though he lives altogether and the milk will expire before he has time to assimilate it all. Monks symptoms may improve with therapy, but his OCD will not completely resolve.