If you’re a fan of the show, House MD, you probably enjoyed last night’s 2-part season opener with Dr. Gregory House finding himself in a psychiatric hospital. If you haven’t yet seen the episode and intend on watching it, you may want to skip reading any further, as I’m going to discuss plot components that might give away some of it for you.
Contrary to the ridiculous depiction of staff and how a psychiatric hospital is run on the Fox show, Mental, this two-part episode of House actually did a fairly even-handed job of showing what life in a psychiatric hospital can be like. While the use of the solitary room was a little over-the-top (and likely a part of the plot and power-play between House and the administrator), everything else was far more realistic than a regular episode of House.
Realism doesn’t make House less fun to watch (although I know many doc friends who can’t stand it for that very reason). But seeing people grappling with mental illness depicted in a very complex human and humane way during those two hours was refreshing. Not just refreshing — damned refreshing. House isn’t just a simple, narcissistic ass. House is an ass in order to hide his own emotional pain and refusal to deal with life on the terms it’s given him.
House is wonderfully played by Hugh Laurie, who has suffered from clinical depression himself in real life. As someone who has had to deal with depression first-hand, Laurie’s charitable work is also focused on mental illness. It’s no wonder then that last night’s episode was more sensitive to people with mental illness.
Sure, sure, the episode had its own usual mental stereotypes — the typical mute woman who opens up after something special happens; the manic who refuses his medication in order to remain manic; the superhero who thought he could fly. But within each stereotype, there was some truth, as these are actual maladies that everyday people grapple with, well, every single day. A 2-hour episode has minimal time to explore the depths of such characters, so we get a necessarily simplified outline instead.
Poignantly for the House character, he also realized for the first time that he may not very well have all the answers — and that the answers aren’t always so easily known or knowable. That by deconstructing people to their simple characteristics, you can be wrong. Horribly, tragically wrong.
To see the House character actually grow a little is realistic, too. People don’t change overnight and House isn’t going to suddenly become this touchy-feely, “let’s all share our emotions” kind of person. But we can change in little bits at a time and we can have a wake up call that makes us realize that we may be going down the wrong path in life. It doesn’t always take a tragedy or a heart-stopping revelation to come to this realization (but on TV it may, since the audience needs to be kept entertained too).
Kudos to the writers, producers and Laurie himself for these two great episodes with a sensitive and thoughtful depiction of inpatient life in a modern psychiatric hospital.
22 comments
An absolutely brilliant synopsis of the programme House. Thank you
I thought that the life in the psych ward was poorly portrayed. I’ve never been in a psych ward that lets you go on overnight passes, or able to go steal a car, or have sex in a room. They didn’t show the nurses giving the patients shots when they acted up either.
Dr. Grohol says:
‘That by deconstructing people to their simple characteristics, you can be wrong. Horribly, tragically wrong.’
I was hospitalized several years ago for severe major depression, and PTSD. I have no history of Borderline behavior, zero, and I don’t do ‘splitting’, or have impulsive anger breakdowns. But then, the doctor said that he is aware that I had a somewhat upsetting experience with…..and an invitation for me to elaborate.
“It was horrible, he was awful, not simply a jerk or a ‘little upsetting….” I say and was cut off then, and never allowed another time to even begin talking about the trauma. (because it involved medical abuse)
In my charts later, it was noted that I had borderline features, only, and just because of this one single true statement, and probably the first time in my life I ever placed blame on another. (not to mention that this ‘horror doctor’ had lost his license in 5 states already for drug abuse, mental illness, fraud, abuse, and ‘you name it’)
Thanks, John, this is a great article and I hope I can find it. Katrin
The first day I got there, this very attractive, professional sounding and looking woman asked to talk with me and she wanted to know if I needed a lawyer, and I was so amazed and glad that this was offered to me as it was really appropriate to my case. I wasn’t sure if she was a social worker, or other.
It turns out this young woman was totally psychotic and in a manic phase and had been picked up in a park where she ran around naked. (She did though come from a very good family in San Francisco)
I believed every word she said, and I am usually pretty able to ‘know the difference’.
Oh, and Bridget, this is totally true about the passes.
One time I was hospitalized while in graduate school and I took passes to attend my classes.
Another woman would go shopping for laxatives on her pass and take like 100 of them because she had bulimia.
i don’t watch house but i am a huge fan of hugh laurie.
his work with rowan atkinson the various black adder historical farces have lifted me in my darkest moments.
i particularly liked the new years special where atkinson travels back in time to beat the hell out of william shakespeare on behalf of disgruntled junior high school students who have to read the bard. laurie is the perfect comic foil, a very difficult part.
i have trouble watching house for a lot of reasons. i detest medical soap operas for a lot of other reasons too but i cannot say what house’s formula is because i won’t watch it.
i did enjoy a fox show last year about a consulting forensic psychologist/anthropologist who reads body language but i do not think it was renewed. it starred another british actor as a curmudgeon in america, which seems to be a good television formula in order to internationally distribute american tv shows.
when i occasionally read foreign language newspapers in french or german i realize how popular an export ‘doctor house’ is in europe. i am glad laurie is taking a responsible approach to a depiction of mental illnes and our healthcare system. i rather suspect that this will be less possible in the near future because healthcare in the us has become quite understandably a political third rail in the usa, with the fox network and the president’s party on opposite sides of the divide. it is reasonable to expect this political motif to be transposed onto television shows about the less fortunate among us in ways that will be unbecoming to troubled people.
I enjoyed Laurie in the Black Adders series too — great British comedies from another era.
@Bridget – some allowances are made for the plot, so all those things you mentioned, while perhaps not typical, are certainly possible (and I’d hazard to guess, have been done, from the stories I’ve heard while working at psychiatric hospitals). Out of the ordinary, indeed. But then again, so is House. 😉
I down graded my cable, what channel is House on now, because I used to watch it on another station a week later by episode?? So mad I missed it!
I thought this episode was very well done. I had my first experience in an inpatient ward this summer and although there were embellishments for dramatic purposes, I thought it was fairly realistic.
I am a huge fan of the show, but I am disappointed that it will go back to its usual stories. I would have liked to see further exploration of the character by watching an entire season of House as a patient.
Still, it was an excellent show ans Hugh Laurie was excellent as always.
I really liked the general portrayal of the psych ward on House. It shows that the professionals have problems they have to deal with too and are not to be put up on a pedastal.
The talent show was a bit over the top but I can let that slide. All in all, this was the most realistic episode of House to-date.
As a old time psych. nurse I laughed my ass off when House had the fight with his room mate and the staff “took him down” and gave House oral medication instead of an injection . Also yes there are isolation rooms for patients but usually under observation by staff. I really Liked the show it was time for a change of pace I will continue to watch now that the action is picking up.
p.s. psych. nurses may shock you !
despite the scathing reviews by some I REALLY enjoyed the episode. SUre it isnt ALL reality but what is..
at least they avoided many of the indignaties many express or made every mental health professional completely unethical and so on…
it’s STILL a show but it still has a lot of basis of reality in each episode and this episode did well in terms of Mental Illness I thought.
I did have to laugh that the 5mg of Haldol was given in a pill.. YEH RIGHT.. I think everyone who has been exposed to mental illness KNOWS that is off! Ive never been in a psych hospital but know people that have.
I was really astounded and happy with how well they represented a ‘theraputic’ process within 2 hours.. House wasnt cured… but he actually had a break through of great clinical significance. i was pretty amazed at how well they did this. They didnt have HIM curing anyone as I predicted.. i thought he would find something wrong with a patient that the other doctors had overlooked or something… lol.
And to on eposter who said what place allows overnight passes.. I have HEARD of that happening before for people in long term areas… but anyways…
all in all, they did a awesome job and im gld you wrote this article in response to it.. i shared it on my Facebook lol.
Well, the psych ward is also full of surprises just like everyday real life.
I enjoyed the show;Having been in a psych hospital I found it fairly accurate in condensed form. I look forward to the rest of the season- will House go to therapy to continue treatment??
I got tired of the nurses writing up everyone who tried to masturbate privately in their beds at night. Was that truly disturbed behavior or just normal for people in a hospital long term? I seemed like we had no privacy. When someone came in that seemed as well as I was, we figured out how to get alone in a room for sex and even posted a look out. Pissed the nurses off no end, which was more typical for me the college student than me the mental patient.
I always enjoy the show, sometimes can empathize with House, but love every moment of the show and hate when it is over until next week. Should have this for 2hrs. Doubt House becoming feely, touchy even after Pych inpatient, I hope he does not come back to inpatient, he can deal with it as outpatient, but with the same Psychiatrist that was treating him now. Need behaviour therapy change slowly for house, not going too far though.
Addicted to House, and so had to read your on-target synopsis.
I do hope that they also continue to weave Andre Braugher as Dr Nolan into this season’s story lines – he has the gravitas to play against Laurie’s House… So much of the dynamics between House and others revolve around his “gaming” of relationships – and the Nolan character would be his perfect antithesis.
I laughed so hard when the nurse yelled, “give him 5mg of Haldol!”
I looked over to the lady I live with and told her they might as well yell, “give him a tic-tac!”
Who played the blonde nurse in the ward? By far the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life…I’m not trying to be rude here but the personality she portayed along with her smile WOW!
Great piece on the House episodes. They are 2 of my favorite. The talent show might have been silly but House was trying. Then there is the awful reality when House tries to help the patient who believes he can fly. So terribly sad. I suffer from depression. I think that incident can make people realize that even the best intentions won’t work sometimes for us and tragedies happen with mental illnesses. You have to stick to the professionals. Thank you for writing this. I love House. It is like “therapy” to me.
I laughed so hard when the nurse yelled, “give him 5mg of Haldol!â€
Nice one
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