Fictional characters with mental health problems #1: Monk

Of all the fictional characters with obsessive-complusive disorder, this man is probably the most famous-

 Adrian Monk, of the television show Monk- the tagline being 'Obsessive Complusive Detective'. Which he is- obessive complusive and a detective. The series takes him all over the place solving mysterious crimes (some of the ones I've seen recently involved voodoo and aliens) but his obsessive nature tends to help him solve the case. It does, however, ruin everything else...

OCD is...not unfamiliar to me. And I'm glad I never had it as bad as Adrian- his fears include water, elevators, public loos, things being out of place, dirt (he REALLY HATES dirt) and many, many others. Sometimes it's played for laughs- but often it isn't. Adrian's whole life is bloody difficult. He has friends and he's well respected, but he sometimes can barely walk down a road.

 One of the episodes I saw recently has Monk critisise his friend Natalie for believing in superstitions. While he's doing that he's making sure to hit each parking meter he goes past, going back to hit one he missed. That's the thing about OCD, it makes no sense, no more sense then superstitions, but it's hard to get rid of.

However, not impossible...