Amy Farrah Fowler Teaches Sheldon Cooper ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention.)

Episode from The Big Bang Theory

While most media misses the mark on OCD, this episode of The Big Bang Theory communicates some of the realities of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. OCD presents as an intolerance of uncertainty, incompletion, and/or disgust.  In this clip, Amy attempts to help Sheldon work through his incompleteness intolerance by using Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).  Sheldon effectively conveys the itchy, awful, unsettling feelings associated with OCD.  Unfortunately, in the end, Sheldon self-sabotages by compulsively re-doing the tasks to completion. Still, the scene depicts Sheldon’s OCD with both compassion and humor at the frustration and irony of it all.