Dr. House: Dual Pathology in the doctor

Abstract

House MD is an American Television drama whose central character is Dr. Gregory Hose, a doctor who heads a diagnostic department (with other three doctors) at the Princeton?Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. He uses a unique logical process to obtain a diagnosis. House’s department treats patients that have already been evaluated before by other clinicians, but have failed to get an accurate diagnosis. Diagnoses range from relatively common to very rare diseases. House does not respect the common rules and proceedings of orthodox Medicine, has serious interpersonal conflicts (as well as a lack of empathy) and shows no interest for other medical practices other than his. House suffers from chronic pain, caused by an infraction in his right leg five years before the show’s first season, which also forces him to use a cane. He manages the pain with Vicodin, an opioid to which he becomes dependent. Our hypothesis is that House is a typical case of dual pathology (co?occurrence of substance use disorder and another mental disorder), more specifically: opioid dependence and a mixed personality disorder (sharing traits of both antisocial and narcissistic personality disorders). Dual Pathology is not uncommon among doctors due to their tendency to delay help?seeking and to easy access to some drugs.

Keywords

• patología dual
• médico enfermo
• dependencia de opiáceos
• trastorno de personalidad.