Interesting Article on the Co-dependent Connection Between House-Cuddy-Wilson
Gregory House, M.D.: A Lesson in Codependency
By Judy Shepps Battle eastwindsor.patch.com/articles/gregory-house-md-a-lesson-in-codependency-2
The show is brilliantly written, allowing us to witness the network of codependent relationships in colleagues and friends that swaddle House and protect him from experiencing the physical, legal and ethical consequences of his behavior.
His name is Gregory House, and for the past seven television seasons he has been head of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, solving complex mysteries that elude ordinary medical minds.
He is also an impaired physician, a drug addict whose primary drug of choice is Vicodin - and the lead character in the Fox network hit series House, M.D.
Like any active addict, House will go to any extreme to obtain Vicodin, including lying to doctors, forging prescriptions and even stealing medication from dead patients. When caught, he can be charming, pitiful or penitent, depending on what personal performance is necessary to escape experiencing consequences for his behavior.
The show is brilliantly written, allowing us to live through all phases of House's addiction, from active drug abuse to detoxification to extensive in-patient rehabilitation to sobriety and, most recently, to relapse and return to Vicodin abuse.
We also get to witness the network of codependent relationships in colleagues and friends that swaddle House and protect him from experiencing the physical, legal and ethical consequences of his behavior.
Finally, we get to experience our own codependent relationship with House, as we laugh at how he outwits hospital regulations to obtain drugs or at his witty comments when he swallows three or four Vicodin at a time like it is candy.
Center of the Universe: House
Gregory House is a middle-aged, board-certified diagnostician, with a twin specialty in infectious diseases and nephrology. He is emotionally needy, narcissistic, self-pitying, a loner and addicted to pain killers as a result of a surgical procedure on his leg that caused muscle injury in his quadriceps.
He is also addicted to sex, pornography, and lying and drinks very heavily. We can only assume these have been lifelong issues and not caused by his chronic pain.
Like many addicts, House is charismatic and self-centered. He radiates professional brilliance and a bad-boy image that both men and women find attractive.
He is a magnet to those who crave his approval, his acceptance and his love. Since he is incapable of seeing or meeting other people's emotional needs, those caught up in his allure are continually frustrated.
Addicted to House: Wilson
One way to look at the addict-codependent relationship is that the addict is addicted to his drug of choice, while the codependent is addicted to the addict.
The codependent focuses both heart and eyes on the needs and actions of the addict, who is oblivious to this intensity as he or she is totally focused on self and the task of avoiding emotional or physical pain.
Typically, the codependent is a "fixer."
House's friend and colleague Dr. James Wilson, who is head of the hospital's Department of Oncology, epitomizes this role. He has a singular dedication to trying to make House happy by covering up the consequences of House's mistakes.
Even though Wilson knows that House is consuming excessive and dangerous amounts of Vicodin, when House runs out, it is Wilson who will write a new prescription. When House steals Wilson’s prescription pads, Wilson is silent. When House is caught dead to rights by the police for illegally obtaining Vicodin, Wilson is willing to sacrifice his career by not testifying against House.
Addicted to House: Cuddy
Dr. Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine and hospital administrator, is also a "fixer." While Wilson's motive is friendship with House, Cuddy alternates between needing his staff services as a diagnostician and being in love with him.
Like most codependents, Cuddy believes that she is the cause of the addict's destructive behavior. In a recent poignant statement, she admits to still being in love with House, even though she has broken up with him, and says she cannot help him because she herself is House's problem.
Both Wilson and Cuddy need to start attending a self-help group such as Alanon (the 12-step organization for those who are affected by alcoholics/addicts) or Codependents Anonymous and to talk to a professional addictions counselor.
One of Alanon's basic teachings is that the co-alcoholic or co-addict:
A Flawed Perspective
Every time I see House pop a handful of Vicodin, I wonder whether I would want myself or a loved one to be in his care. I'm bothered that he is still being allowed to practice while in relapse.
Early on in the series, the producers attempted to address this question by having House admit that he is addicted to Vicodin but having him deny it was a problem. The pills "let me do my job and they take away my pain," House assures us.
The reality is that Gregory House, M.D., is no more able to judge his degree of impairment than the drunk who swears he can drive home safely from the office Christmas party.
I believe the producers have missed a major teachable moment to fully portray the approximately 6 percent of physicians who are classified as impaired due to drug use or the approximately 14 percent that have alcohol problems.
But they have done an excellent job in portraying codependency as an addiction, and I thank them for this gift.
By Judy Shepps Battle eastwindsor.patch.com/articles/gregory-house-md-a-lesson-in-codependency-2
The show is brilliantly written, allowing us to witness the network of codependent relationships in colleagues and friends that swaddle House and protect him from experiencing the physical, legal and ethical consequences of his behavior.
His name is Gregory House, and for the past seven television seasons he has been head of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, solving complex mysteries that elude ordinary medical minds.
He is also an impaired physician, a drug addict whose primary drug of choice is Vicodin - and the lead character in the Fox network hit series House, M.D.
Like any active addict, House will go to any extreme to obtain Vicodin, including lying to doctors, forging prescriptions and even stealing medication from dead patients. When caught, he can be charming, pitiful or penitent, depending on what personal performance is necessary to escape experiencing consequences for his behavior.
The show is brilliantly written, allowing us to live through all phases of House's addiction, from active drug abuse to detoxification to extensive in-patient rehabilitation to sobriety and, most recently, to relapse and return to Vicodin abuse.
We also get to witness the network of codependent relationships in colleagues and friends that swaddle House and protect him from experiencing the physical, legal and ethical consequences of his behavior.
Finally, we get to experience our own codependent relationship with House, as we laugh at how he outwits hospital regulations to obtain drugs or at his witty comments when he swallows three or four Vicodin at a time like it is candy.
Center of the Universe: House
Gregory House is a middle-aged, board-certified diagnostician, with a twin specialty in infectious diseases and nephrology. He is emotionally needy, narcissistic, self-pitying, a loner and addicted to pain killers as a result of a surgical procedure on his leg that caused muscle injury in his quadriceps.
He is also addicted to sex, pornography, and lying and drinks very heavily. We can only assume these have been lifelong issues and not caused by his chronic pain.
Like many addicts, House is charismatic and self-centered. He radiates professional brilliance and a bad-boy image that both men and women find attractive.
He is a magnet to those who crave his approval, his acceptance and his love. Since he is incapable of seeing or meeting other people's emotional needs, those caught up in his allure are continually frustrated.
Addicted to House: Wilson
One way to look at the addict-codependent relationship is that the addict is addicted to his drug of choice, while the codependent is addicted to the addict.
The codependent focuses both heart and eyes on the needs and actions of the addict, who is oblivious to this intensity as he or she is totally focused on self and the task of avoiding emotional or physical pain.
Typically, the codependent is a "fixer."
House's friend and colleague Dr. James Wilson, who is head of the hospital's Department of Oncology, epitomizes this role. He has a singular dedication to trying to make House happy by covering up the consequences of House's mistakes.
Even though Wilson knows that House is consuming excessive and dangerous amounts of Vicodin, when House runs out, it is Wilson who will write a new prescription. When House steals Wilson’s prescription pads, Wilson is silent. When House is caught dead to rights by the police for illegally obtaining Vicodin, Wilson is willing to sacrifice his career by not testifying against House.
Addicted to House: Cuddy
Dr. Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine and hospital administrator, is also a "fixer." While Wilson's motive is friendship with House, Cuddy alternates between needing his staff services as a diagnostician and being in love with him.
Like most codependents, Cuddy believes that she is the cause of the addict's destructive behavior. In a recent poignant statement, she admits to still being in love with House, even though she has broken up with him, and says she cannot help him because she herself is House's problem.
Both Wilson and Cuddy need to start attending a self-help group such as Alanon (the 12-step organization for those who are affected by alcoholics/addicts) or Codependents Anonymous and to talk to a professional addictions counselor.
One of Alanon's basic teachings is that the co-alcoholic or co-addict:
- did not cause the other person's addiction,
- cannot control another person's addiction,
- cannot cure another person's addiction,
- but can learn how to cope with the addict’s behavior in a healthy way.
A Flawed Perspective
Every time I see House pop a handful of Vicodin, I wonder whether I would want myself or a loved one to be in his care. I'm bothered that he is still being allowed to practice while in relapse.
Early on in the series, the producers attempted to address this question by having House admit that he is addicted to Vicodin but having him deny it was a problem. The pills "let me do my job and they take away my pain," House assures us.
The reality is that Gregory House, M.D., is no more able to judge his degree of impairment than the drunk who swears he can drive home safely from the office Christmas party.
I believe the producers have missed a major teachable moment to fully portray the approximately 6 percent of physicians who are classified as impaired due to drug use or the approximately 14 percent that have alcohol problems.
But they have done an excellent job in portraying codependency as an addiction, and I thank them for this gift.