Oh, that melee/ranged divide! Monk struggling Hell.

[Elric of Grans]

In playing my Monk, I could not really understand why people complained that Melee was disadvantaged against Ranged. I facerolled Normal and Nightmare quicker and more easily with my Monk than I did my Demon Hunter or Wizard. In Hell, I finally understand. Everything that was hard for ranged was harder with melee, and melee has other issues to worry about in addition! With some effort, I completed Act I/Hell, but entering Act II has been a real eye opener. I found it harder than Act II/Inferno is with my Demon Hunter!

My Monk's basic stats are:
18K Life
4K Armour (base)
17% Block
27% Dodge (base)
30 Resist All [does not drop yet]
2.5K DPS
Base (150) spirit with no regeneration
He is accompanied by the Enchantress (additional armour).

My skills are (and I play without Elective mode):
Crippling Wave/Concussion - a triple debuff: slower movement speed, slower attack speed and reduced damage. It is a nice attack that truly cripples those it hits. I use this as my basic attack. I also just find it a fun attack and very quickly chose it as my Spirit Generator.

Lashing Tail Kick/Sweeping Armada - I have found myself using this a lot in Hell difficulty. Every time I am surrounded, or attacked by more enemies than I am comfortable with, I clear some space and focus on a smaller group.

Serenity/Peaceful Resolve - My key defence. I originally used Blinding Flash, but found I needed the invulnerability by late Nightmare. Now I use it constantly; when I get down to half health or am about to get slaughtered by Arcane Sentries, I pop this. I spend most of my gameplay with this on cooldown. I often feel like I need this *and* Blinding Flash, and possibly Breath of Heaven too

Dashing Strike/Flying Side Kick - A utility attack. It helps me by locking ranged enemies in place and to get out of nasty things (eg Desecrator, get behind Diablo when he does his Lightning, etc). Whenever I do not want to be where I currently am, this gets me out of there. Useful, but not in every battle. It is the only Technique skill that fits my play style (passive skills like Sweeping Wind are good, but I prefer to press more buttons ).

Seven-Sided Strike/Pandemonium - An attack I use defensively. The invulnerability, when timed right, can allow me to continue applying pressure in situations I would normally need to kite from (eg Frozen, Arcane) or to get around movement-controlling situations (eg Jailer, Waller). Against Elites and Bosses, this thing is almost always on cooldown; I use it against whites if there are a lot of high-life brutes. I often switched this skill around in Normal and Nightmare, but felt the Invulnerability and Stun was necessary against Elites.

Mantra of Evasion/Hard Target - Continuing my defensive strategy by increasing Dodge and Armour. I never let this down if I can avoid it, and I sure as heck notice if I forget to activate it

Resolve - A further debuff on damage, which probably equates to a bajillion effective health.

Transcendence - I take advantage of the healing in this by trying to time Lashing Tail Kick or Seven-Sided Strike attacks to when I need a quick top-up. It keeps me going when potions are on cool-down.

Sieze the Initiative - More armour, and quite a dramatic amount at that. It is roughly a third of my armour!

Whites are not too bad so far, though the Lacuni are more painful than they were for my Demon Hunter and Wasps are still a pain in the backside to fight. Elites, on the other hand, feel like hammering my head against a wall. Kiting away from effects triggers these enemies to activate their `you cannot hit me lol' modes (eg leap, burrow, etc), and by the time I can get a hit in they activate an ability that forces me to leave again. I quickly have everything on cooldown, along with no Spirit and no way to get in and generate more.

Are my issues gear, build, play-style, or a mix of these?