Ahead of the Mad Men season 6 finale, Esquire has assembled a panel of therapists to asses the current state of the show's chief protagonist/anti-hero, Don Draper.

"Nearly every Sunday night, we've been left desperately wanting to shake some sense into Mr. Draper," began writer Laura Barcella, in a post from The Culture Blog entitled What The Hell's Wrong With Don Draper?.

"Part of the disquiet stirred by watching Don's spiral this season was the growing awareness that we're staring into the face of a man with so much potential, so much wasted ... something. Depth? Passion? Dedication? Something," she wrote.

Don's almost constant boozing certainly has not helped over the years, and the CEO/medical director of Rebound Brooklyn, Scott Bienenfeld, believes this would need to be Don's first hurdle to surmount.

"I think Don's an alcoholic, and that's his overarching problem," Bienenfeld told the magazine. "I'd suggest rehab or AA before anything else.

As for his treatment, Bienenfeld recommended a proper detox program, although he acknowledged that, "for Don Draper, the idea of going through life without alcohol would be like ripping a Band-Aid off a third-degree burn [and] that's how noxious his issues probably feel to him."

Psychiatrist Scott Haltzman, M.D., who also wrote The Secrets of Surviving Infidelity (a text that could also be of assistance to Don and his family), considered Don a possible candidate for narcissism or antisocial disorder, but acknowledged that both are hard to treat -- "If Don had either of these disorders, he might do better with group treatment," he said.

As for Don's impulse control issues, Haltzman also recognized its difficulty in treatment, and that even the use of medication would have to battle with Don's other addictions.

"Use of alcohol minimizes the effectiveness of any medications," Haltzman said, "and the character seems like the kind of person who would avoid taking medication."

Dr. Paul Hokemeyer, a senior clinical adviser to Florida-based addiction clinic Caron Ocean Drive, ultimately suggested that Don might have a little bit of everything.

"You could diagnose Don for days," Hokemeyer said.

"I'd be surprised if he ever walked into my office, given the issues he presents: antisocial personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and paranoid personality disorder."

Treating him may prove difficult due to the character's stubbornness and resistance to trust.

Still, Hokemeyer said, "I'd start with educational interventions, engaging in the Socratic method of investigations and exploring his reality from an intellectual standpoint."

After developing a rapport, Hokemeyer hoped to utilize equine therapy: "It'd be about challenging his notions of power and what that means."

While Esquire may have helped get some insight into Don's character, fans of the program are regularly seeking insight at the end of each episode; the show is notorious for its short, cryptic previews. Show runner Matthew Weiner says he's set them up to leave fans wanting more, and the promo department has that down to a science.

"I have tied their hands," he told New York Magazine's Vulture blog, "and I'm amazed at what they do with the restrictions I have given them. Over the years, it's evolved into this semaphore of storytelling."

The previews are, in some way, a concession; Weiner wouldn't do them at all if it were up to him.

"We pay so much money for that music at the end of the show that I don't really understand why we even have a promo for next week," he said. "I don't want to reveal anything!"

Watch the preview for Mad Men's season 6 finale In Care Of, which airs on Sunday.

Tags: Mad Men