Analysis Of Sheldon Cooper´s The Big Bang Theory

“Narcissistic” is an insult often shouted at individuals that are viewed as possessing a lot of conceit. Though, the person may be behaving with excessive pride, the individual could be suffering from an undiagnosed disorder called narcissistic personality disorder. This disorder is summarized by psychologists Skodol, Bender, and Morey (2014) as having to be constantly admired, having a superior sense of self, and lack of empathy for others (p. 422). This description perfectly describes Sheldon Cooper, a character on the CBS television show The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon Cooper is a theoretical physicist that works for the California Institute of Technology and he has his BS, MS, MA, PhD and ScD. All of this makes him very intelligent and only
My mother had me tested!” which usually said after one of his friends accuse him for having an insane personality. Though this line is meant to be humorous, it shows that something is simply not right about Sheldon and though his mother had him tested, there are some abnormal disorders that are not easily diagnosable. Sheldon has some obvious quirks to his personality. He presents portions of schizoid personality disorder, obsessive compulsive personality disorder, and finally narcissistic personality disorder. Narcissistic personality disorder is the disorder that is most obvious when interacting with Sheldon because of the way he talks about himself being highly superior to those around him. Sheldon’s disorder is almost a textbook diagnosis because of the numerous symptoms he portrays. According to the newest addition to the DSM V which has the same criteria as the DSM-IV-TR outlined by psychologists Skodol, Bender, and Morey (2014) state that an individual suffering from narcissistic personality disorder has to exhibit at least five of these symptoms: “a grandiose sense of self-importance, preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love, beliefs of being special and unique, requirements of excessive admiration, a sense of entitlement, interpersonal exploitativeness, lack of empathy, envy of others; and arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes”
In an episode titled The Euclid Alternative (2008) Sheldon made the statement of just how much more unique he was than others in the world. He said that the reason he didn’t know how to drive was because he was much further on the evolutionary scale than anyone else and that he was meant for greater things than following petty traffic laws. He also typically states how his IQ level is higher than those around him in the episode of The Scavenger Vortex (2013) he screams out that his brain is better than everybody’s. He also is often putting down his roommate’s occupation because he does not find it as noteworthy as his. In an episode titled The Gorilla Experiment (2009) he said that “Leonard's work is nearly as amazing as third graders growing Lima beans in wet paper towels”. This is just one of the many instances that Sheldon voiced his superiority to those around