Introduction 3
Signs and symptoms 3
Risk factor 4
Treatment 5
Conclusion 5
Work cited 6
ABSTRACT
Obsessive compulsive behaviors is mental illness that affects people’s lives negatively. The symptoms of the disorder include obsessive behaviors especially when it comes to cleaning, arrangement of things and order of things. They are also very compulsive in a manner in which, they are unable to cope life with others (DSM-5). They tend to try and clean other people’s things or arrange them in a certain manner. Hands are frequently washed and cleaned especially after coming into contact with other people. The risk factors for the disorder are genetical, environmental and brain structure. According to the DSM-5, the type of treatment used are medication and therapy. In looking at the television show Monk, all the symptoms associated with people with OCD can be observed such as obsessive and compulsive behaviors. Adrian monk always put things in a particular manner and if not he became irritated and agitated. The common risk factor for the disorder as depicted by the show was environmental. Adrian was traumatized by the death of his wife. The treatment used for Monk was therapy and medication.
Introduction
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is defined as a mental illness that causes people to repeat certain routines, thoughts and has the need to check things constantly (DSM-5). These people can be observed to have no control over their actions or thoughts. Some of the common symptoms include counting things in a certain way, checking if the door has been closed and hand washing. These activities have affected individuals with OCD in a negative way. An example can be seen from the television show the Monk.
Signs and symptoms
In the show, Adrian Monk is considered to be among the best private investigators. He is able to collaborate with the police officers in investigating and capturing criminals. However, according to the show, Monks was originally a detective but due to this disorder, he lost his detective license and became a PI (Gillies). It can also be observed that even as a PI the disorder was still affecting his job. An example can be seen from one of the episodes where Monk let go of a criminal because he was afraid to touch him. The detectives working on the case were disappointed by him. This fact caused the chief of detectives not to recommend him to get his license back as a detective.
Some of the common activities that people with OCD have can also be observed on the show. Monk always washes his hands frequently or uses the disinfectant paper towels that his assistant always carries around especially when he greets someone. This fact earned him some negative looks from people. This kind of reactions can be experienced by many people suffering from OCD. Therefore, they lose friends, colleagues and even family members. When this happens they become depressed and isolate themselves from others (DSM-5). It is claimed that Monk used to lock himself in his house so as not to come into contact with others and also because of his depression.
According to DSM 5, people with OCD have obsessive thoughts of having their things in a symmetrical or perfect order (DSM-5). These people’s houses are usually very clean and neat. Everything is placed in the same color, numbers and design. When these things are changed by anyone they become irritated and very angry. They therefore, have to redo the whole thing by arranging things in a particular manner that they like. These people also have a tendency where they rearrange things in another person’s house or office in the manner that seems right to them. In looking, at this symptom it has been well depicted in the Monk television show. Monk was a compulsive cleaner in that his house was very neat and clean. Everything was placed in a particular order (Gillies). Whenever, he went to other people’s homes he always tried to put some things in the order that he likes. For that he was labelled crazy by some of the people even by his former colleges at the police station. It could also be observed that he had no control over his compulsive behaviors. This fact can be also seen from all people with OCD.
Risk factor
The common risk factors are genetics, brain structure or function and environment (DSM-5). In the case of Monk, it can be witnessed that he changed a lot after the death of his wife. This is when his compulsive behaviors became severe and out of control. He locked himself inside his house and isolated himself from the outside world. He lost his job and friends. Therefore, his risk factor according to the DSM 5 is environment. He experienced trauma when his wife was killed (Gillies).
Treatment
The standard treatment options for OCD are medication and psycho-therapy. Some of the common drugs are Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) such as clomipramine. These medicines are used to reduce the symptoms of OCD (DSM-5). In the show, it was shown that monk used to take medication for his disorder. This was presented when the assistant carried his medicine in her purse wherever they went and always reminded him to take his medication. The other form of treatment is through therapy sessions. Throughout the series it could be witnessed that Monk went to his psychologist frequently. Through him Monk thought that he could be cured and, therefore, the doctor will be able to recommend him to his superiors at the police force that he was okay and ready to go to work (Gillies). However, whenever there were any progress made he always did something that caused the psychologist to believe that he was not well. However, at the end of the show it has been demonstrated that through his therapy sessions and medication monk was able to curb some of the symptoms of his OCD.
Conclusion
The TV series Monk had the right depiction of a person with OCD. In the show, Monk’s life was impacted in a negative manner. He lost his job, friends and social life. He was compulsive and obsessive on how things should be placed or cleaned. The risk factor in his case is environmental because he got trauma after the death of his wife. He used the right treatment as observed from the DSM 5 where it recommends therapy and medication treatment (DSM-5).
Work cited
"Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders : DSM-5 (5 ed.)." American Psychiatric Publishing, (2013). Print
Gillies, Judith. TV Preview: 'Monk' returns for more disorder-ly police work. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2009. Print
