Obsessive-compulsive disorder

In chapter 9 I found the topic obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, to be interesting.  OCD is “a disorder characterized by persistent thoughts, impulses, or images (called obsessions), and response to the obsessions” (Powell).

I watched an episode of True Life, on MTV, about people who suffered with OCD on a daily basis. I know that one of the women on the show washed her hands many times in a row because she did not think they were clean. She most likely she had a fear of germs. Another man on the show had to make sure the door to his house and car was locked many times before walking away from it. There are so many different types of OCD and “OCD was once considered a particularly difficult disorder to treat” (Powell).

            In the show The Big Bang Theory, the character, Sheldon, exhibits OCD when he knocks on another character, Penny’s, door. He knocks three times and says her name, knocks three more times and says her name, and finally knocks three more times and says her name again. Finally, Penny opens the door. In the video that I posted below, Penny opens the door while Sheldon has only knocked on the door two sets of the three and said her name twice. After Penny opens the door Sheldon knocks on the doorframe for the final three knocks and says her name. He did not want to start talking to her until he completed his pattern of knocking on her door. He has a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONK1lR7T9y8

Powell, R. A., Symbaluk, D. G., & Honey, P. L. (2009). Introduction to learning and behavior. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.