It was on the news this morning that Oxcytocin can help people overcome shyness and phobias like not leaving the house and many other things.

Perhaps this could help Adrian and Ambrose.

What do you think?

Maybe it could, but when i read this i couldn't help thinking that maybe that was the one or like it that Monk took in "Mr Monk Takes His Medicine" though i could be wrong....

Maybe it'll work for Ambrose. But, we already know Monk wouldn't want "other chemicals" in his body.

!chik!

I tend to bristle at the use of the word 'cure' for things like this, but it's sort of a knee jerk reaction caused by having a child with AS and all these quacks out there who prey on parents desperation and say that things like chelation and hyperbaric chambers can 'cure' the AS or other autistic spectrum disorders. Also, to me is sounds like they are trying to 'cure' kids/people of being who they are.

But I'll get off the soap box because this really isn't the same thing, though I think the term 'treatment' would be better in place of 'cure'. Phobias in the case of the Monk brothers is a sign of mental illness that can be attributed to trauma and chemical imbalance. There is a chance that taking Oxytocin could help them, maybe help regulate thei brain chemistry, but then it has the same chance helping anyone who is willing to try it. I doubt, after what happened with Doxynil, that Adrian would be willing to try anything like that again. Ambrose might, but first, he would have to be able to leave him house and go to a doctor's office and I don't know that that will happen anytime soon unless he has another run in with a neighbor who wants to kill his wife. And I would also be very concerned about Ambrose trying it because Adrian at least had a network of people who could monitor how he was being affected, and even this didn't keep him from nearly losing it. Ambrose lives alone and never leave his house, days could pass before anyone might go check on him. Sometimes taking new medications for depression or mental illnesses can lead to suicidal thoughts and even actual suicide attempts or success. That seems way too scary to me, particularly for someone like Ambrose who people are used to being very quiet and un-noticed.

When Adrian was on medication before I think it was in S2 he lost his ability to solve crimes. In fact he didn't care at all. It's possible the same thing could happen again if he took another medication. If Monk wasn't obessive-compulsive phobic then he wouldn't be Monk. If Monk is going to be treated than I think it should be when the show is ending.
IMO

Your right about all the stuff about him losing the ability to solve crimes and lost the obssessive compulsive stuff, but i don't mean to be picky or anything but it was in season three.

Yeah, pretty much that. I agree.

But, atleast for awhile he wasn't a huge L 7!

!chik!

I think Monk's L 7 quality is kinda cute , but he also suits cool dude mode lol!!

Thanks for all the great comments!

If I am remembering what they said this morning I think it was in the form of a nasal spray not pills like Monk took before.

Perhaps if Ambrose took it and was ok Monk might be more willing to try it.

I agree with everyone's thoughts above, but I think that Ambrose would benefit greatly from it so that he could feel free to leave his house without apprehension.

I agree that Monk's trying it should be saved until the end of the series because I really don't want to see it end yet.

Yup me too. L7...Good times!



Ha ha, yeah I agree. I just thought that since we were in the discussion of "Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine" I just HAD to say something about L7's. lol

!chik!

But he does have a small network - Monk and co. come visit him, and that's a start!

There's no hopelessness in finding a way out, although it seems like it. He'd just have to take very small steps at doing it. I don't take meds to help me with my agoraphobia (I call it "semi-agoraphobia" at this stage in life; not completely over it, but a heckuva lot better than I was a few years ago). As he's left to visit Trudy's grave, he's capable. When you first start out leaving the house, you go with someone you can trust and go places you used to go to - we called them "safe places" - and only go in for small periods of time, until you can adjust to it. The noise and people, even in a small, quiet setting, can be beyond overwhelming at first. You feel like an army of ants is crawling all over you with the fear. But with patience and a lot of slow exposure, you get used to it and it doesn't frighten you anymore. Also what helped me is having a "code word" to help me through my panic. I'd think of something I always found hysterically funny (which was the Creepy Thin Man haircut scene in the second "Charlie's Angels" movie), and when I started to feel completely overwhelmed, I'd say in my head (even out loud sometimes), "Haircut!". This would help me calm down.

After a long while, I'd test myself by going into a "safe place" alone for a few minutes, and allowed myself to leave when it became overwhelming. It would feel awful that I couldn't last long at it, but I knew it was also a major accomplishment to do it, and to pat myself on the back for what I could do.

Also helping me was a bit of screwed up psychology - when "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory" came out 2 years ago, I really wanted to go, and my Ma kept saying we'd go and then she kept breaking her promise. Annoying in the extreme! Someone from another website actually drove down from another state just to take me to the movies! Ma was annoyed I went with someone else, but she kept breaking her promise for over a month, and I wanted to see the movie before it left. In fact, I wanted to see it again the next week. As usual, she broke her promise, and I was so angry, I said, "The heck with this!" and actually left the house to catch the bus and see the movie myself! That was a major step in helping me get over agoraphobia, and since I've had many promises to do things broken since then, I've been able to take the bus and do things on my own a lot more in the past year. I'm not saying I'm perfectly cured, I still have some freak outs with crowds in places I don't know (even some I do know), but it is possible to get better, even without medications. Although, strictly speaking, Ambrose has more on his plate with me, with having OCD as well (I wouldn't be so crass as the compare it to my having Bipolar Disorder, that's apples and oranges), but agoraphobia can be helped with a lot of patience and slow exposure.

Edited to correct some terrible spelling!

Twinrogers ~

Even with medication to help calm the precipitory anxiety I still had to go through the desensitization with a "safe person" and even now when I have to go somewhere I've never been before I need a "safe person" to help me get through the first and sometimes second trip, and it has to be someone I know and trust who won't argue or get me further upset.

Something else I have to do is plan the entire trip out in my head before I leave the house so I'll know how much time it will take to get where I'm going. I've spread out to about a 5-mile radius from my home where I can go alone but sometimes I have to get really angry at myself to get me out the door. I guess the angry me conquers the fearful me.

When I was working I did so much better than I do now and could go alone to so many different places I hadn't been before. Now I'm alone so much many of the unrational fears have been able to creep back ~ the reprieve felt so good though when I was able to do more than I can now.

I'll never consider myself cured so I call myself "a recovering agoraphic" because I never know when I'll make that next slip backward.

I get in that line of thinking, too - "It was only 8 years ago, you had a job, and took the bus in by yourself and did etc etc" until I completely depress myself. But negative thinking like that, instead of positive thinking like, "Today, I stood in the store for five minutes before having to leave due to anxiety" is what helps you (and a lot of people, myself included) to not succeed. I know, then your mind goes to, "That sounds so stupid/pathetic, five whole minutes, when I used to do this all the time with no problem!" Beating yourself up, and worse, worrying about backsliding, will only make it a self fulfilling prophesy. I know how hard it is. I really do. Today I went to the vet's to drop off my dog with my Ma, and was fine. When we went to pick up my dog later, it was busy - full of people and animals, and everyone was yelling over each other, and believe you me, I was having a major panic attack in the making. I could feel my eyes bugging out and I was grinding my teeth and digging my keys into the palm of my hand. The difference is, I knew I was stressing, and told my mom, "I have to leave right now, I can't take this anymore. Let me know when the dog's ready, and I'll come back." It didn't make me any "weaker" for leaving; it meant I was strong enough and aware enough to know to leave before a full blown panic attack could occur.

Now, I could have thought that's a "slip backward" and will never be cured, but it's actually a step forward, even if it doesn't seem that way to others or by my own older standards of how I used to live my life. I know I'm the last person going right now to actually say a "think positive" stance on anything, but honest, you have to try to nt beat yourself up on this and say positive things to yourself, even if you don't believe them. Sooner or later, you will believe them, and will be able to do more than you could before. Trust me, I never thought I'd be able to ride a bus again, much less alone. It takes a while, but you do improve if you want to and with a little confidence!

Hello,
I know what it's like to be agoraphobic. I know about anxiety and panic attacks. My agoraphobia and anxiety attacks seemed to aggravate each other. It's like if I leave home will I have an anxiety/panic attack at the mall, etc. It was like being anxious about being anxious. I wasn't afraid of the outdoors, I was afraid of not being able to get home fast enough if I had an attack. I'm glad my home was a safe place for me even though it became so comfortable I didn't want to leave. Years of prayer, behavior modification, and my prescribed pill have helped me overcome.
I live a normal enough life now. I don't just manage day to day, I live day to day. Even though I'm getting out of the house, I still love my home and I still categorize myself as a home body.
If you have the problem, get help. I didn't get better overnight, I gave myself time to succeed.
I remember a line from a movie that helped me: "The turtle is slow, but the earth is patient."

Orange juice helped me alot in the beginning. It provided the energy and the potassium I needed after an attack.
BTW. Don't forget to breath. I tended to hold my breath and that lead to dizziness.
You can "ride out" an anxiety attack. You might be miserable but it usually lasts 20 minutes. Your body is going through the motions of an emergency.
Again, seek help. You'll be glad you did. I've had my attacks for years before I ever got the help I needed. I had one anxiety attack after another, like every day and then I worked to have just one every few days, weeks, months. Now I have one now and then and they aren't as scary as before the prescribed medicine.

I think if Ambrose knew Natalie was waiting for him somewhere, he'd leave his house.

There is no "cure" for OCD, agoraphobia, and social anxiety disorders, but there are treatments to help reduce the symptoms and try to improve the persons quality of life. But they are chronic illnesses that the person always has to fight and live with. There are drugs to treat OCD, the first line of treatment is SSRI's but they only reduce the symptoms about 20%, which is to kind of take off the edge, then you need to do CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), where you have to face your fears and sit with the anxiety until your brain learns the anxiety will come down naturally without having to do the rituals. The treatment is hard work and extreme torture. I myself have had lots of setbacks as it is so difficult, but I keep trying. Ocd has a high relapse rate and is very chronic. It is one of the leading causes of disability in the US, yet is receives hardly any research money. If you are interested in learning more, you can visit the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation www.ocfoundation.org you can learn all about OCD here and also make donations to the research if interested. Please know OCD is real and torments its sufferers, but there are treatments, they are just very difficult and there are not many doctors that specialize in OCd so it is very hard for someone with ocd to find a dr. in their area, they usually have to travel to a special center because there are so few resources for it. We need to change that and make OCD treatment available for everyone who needs it, no one should have to suffer with this. We also need to work for mental health parity so insurance companies will pay for our treatment the same way they pay for physical illnesses.
-OCDGirl

It's hellish to live with any chronic condition, especially when those around you don't understand what you are going through or the tremendous effort it takes each day to face the demons that plague our lives.

It's difficult to plan anything in advance and say with confidence, "I'll be there." I don't beat myself up over my difficulties and I've stopped trying to explain to others my dysfunctional behaviors. If I have a good day I give myself a "yeah me" and if I fail at something I try again later, either that day or the next. I have "rode out" so many panic attacks while in public that I have learned how to hide my panic from others but when I finally get back home and let down my self-imposed control I go into anxiety mode and fall to pieces.

My biggest and hardest thing to overcome is my lack of a 'safe person.' Twinrogers has her Mom to go with her - I'm going it alone for the first time since the onset of this disorder and it has given me many a set-back in the last couple of years.

Here, in Madison, WI we have the Univ. of WI Hospital and Clinics with an excellent Dept. that deals only in Anxiety/Panic disorders and related conditions. Unfortunately living on SSI the medical assistance program won't cover the cost for more than a few appointments or 20 hours of therapy, either way it's never enough but thankfully it covers all but a small co-pay for the medications I take.