Disclaimer: There will be mild spoilers for the series ahead, so if you haven’t yet watched House, MD and are interested in watching, read at your own discretion.
For eight years, Dr. Gregory House (played by the acclaimed Hugh Laurie) limped across television screens, shocking audiences with his off-color humor and antics, while mesmerizing them with his deductive abilities. House is a world-renowned diagnostician and misanthropic Vicodin addict. This may seem like an oxymoron – how can someone who hates people be a good doctor? – but the Sherlock Holmes-inspired doctor tackles puzzling, obscure medical maladies with a fairly high rate of success. The eight season series centers on House, his relationship with himself, and his interactions with friends, colleagues, and patients.
While there is much to be learned from a medical standpoint, I believe the greatest takeaway to be the development of Gregory House’s personality over the duration of the show.
When we are first introduced to the character, he comes across as a self-serving, rude, and all-around unlikable individual. House goes about defying authority and belittling those around him, all while popping Vicodin relentlessly. We watch House sabotage relationships and jeopardize everything from patients’ lives to the hospital itself with little or no regard. Despite this, it is easy to pity him, to feel bad for someone so miserable, self-destructive, and alone. House’s character continues this way for the first half of the series, until his addiction causes him to hallucinate. The fear that comes about from being out of touch with reality lands House in a mental institution, where he characteristically resists treatment and authority. House eventually relents and, with the help of psychiatrist Dr. Darryl Nolan (Andre Braugher), achieves sobriety and a positive life trajectory. Unfortunately, this progress is short-lived, and he relapses, again spiraling out of control and ending up in prison.
To put it simply, House as a character is a study of addiction, depression, anxiety, and the struggle to find one’s identity. Addiction is the most obvious: he takes Vicodin to ease the pain from an infarction that cost him some of his thigh muscle, but drugs were and are a tool for House to cope with the depression caused by his loneliness. He has no close family or friends, save for his colleague Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard). House also justifies his use of Vicodin by hinging his diagnostic “gifts” upon it, rejecting any pleas for him to achieve sobriety. This is both a product of anxiety and a search for identity: Who is he without the Vicodin? Will he stay the same or become someone unrecognizable if he chooses to become sober?
While these are the mental health issues of a fictional doctor on a TV medical drama, I think that we all grapple with these kinds of thoughts at some point in our lives. Maybe we are going through a transitional period educationally or professionally and questioning if we will perform well at our new school or new job, maybe we feel misunderstood by those around us and it plunges us into depression and loneliness. There is some solace in watching House go through these challenges and being able to find the relatability in his chaotic world. House’s choices of coping mechanisms – substance abuse and isolation – are also good indicators of what not to do when facing depression and anxiety. Finding support from those around us and seeking professional help, which House eventually does in the latter half of the show, are more effective and healthier solutions.
On a more holistic level, each season features a certain thematic challenge, like heartbreak, grief, or addiction/recovery. Recognizing these themes and watching characters react, both constructively and destructively, to the difficulties they face can be beneficial. Firstly, it adds relatability to the characters’ and the series overall. More importantly, however, is that it concretizes hurdles that everyone faces at some point in their lives. Much like with House’s own arc, watching a character undergo some difficulty, like a breakup or death of a loved one, and emerge on the other side is inspiring. If they can get over the hump and move on, then we can do the same when we come up against a similar situation in the real world.
The point of my review is not to compel you to study and analyze each character on House, MD. That would take away from the fun of the viewing experience. Be shocked at some of House’s comments, sit on the edge of your seat and bite your nails as a patient is ravaged by that episode’s mystery illness, enjoy watching the show for the sake of watching it. But, while you binge all 176 episodes to distract yourself from the stress of going back to school, keep an eye out for some of the mental health topics, like addiction, depression, etc., that present themselves through the series. Happy binging and good luck with all your courses this semester!
Jacob Leichter, Tips & Tricks Editor