All Posts Tagged With: "Hugh Laurie"

Hello! I decided to interview myself. (Yes, you read that right.) That’s just the kind of wacky thing I do. That’s how I got my nickname ‘wacky-doer-of-things-Jessica’.

Sofachip: So, Jessica, what is it that you’ve been watching these days - besides what you’ve mentioned on Sofachip already?

Jessica: A crazy amount of goodness that fills me up with all the angst, joy, and vitamins I need.

SC: But you didn’t answer - What exactly have you been watching, though? What did you watch today?

Jessica: Fine, fine. I’ll speak. I currently have Supernatural season one on DVD which I’ve been watching and just flat-out adoring. I just watched the Bloody Mary episode about an hour ago. See, I had seen most of the first half of the season, but not the rest. I saw the majority of season two, and all of season three. So I wanted to go back - it’s very rewarding to have seen the recent episodes and then go back to the initial ones and see how it all started. Also, these DVDs are honestly possibly the best DVDs I’ve ever seen in terms of TV shows on DVD.

SC: Why is that?

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I’ve been catching up on the season three episodes of the TV show House M.D. that I haven’t seen. Has it been confusing to watch season four previous to this? At times, yes. But I can deal with some challenges (like matching black socks together). I always enjoy watching the show, even re-watching it. While I like all of the characters in their own way (somehow - even the ones I don’t like…if that makes sense) my favorite is Dr. House, played by Hugh Laurie. As for why or how so many people like the charming but jerkish character, I don’t know. Maybe we like the refreshing way he’s blunt. Maybe we just like jerks.

I googled for Hugh Laurie today, and via Automated Daydream I found this article from March 29th, 2008. Something that interests me is the fairly open way that Laurie has discussed his clinical depression. Like far too many other people, I suffer from it as well (in the form of chronic treatment resistant depression). Admitting this feels strange, because I don’t know who might see it. It’s difficult to talk about, but significantly more difficult to never talk about, or never admit - because it’s a part of me. My feelings on this seem to be echoed in a quote from the article:

So, do I gather he doesn’t like doing interviews? “No, but who would? Obviously, you’re in a very vulnerable position. You are putting your testicles out on a chopping board. Well, not a chopping board, that’s not a good image… I get anxious about a lot of things, that’s the trouble. I get anxious about everything. I just can’t stop thinking about things all the time. And here’s the really destructive part: it’s always retrospective. I waste time thinking of what I should have said or done.

That is exactly how I imagine this will play out. I will write this, and then over-analyze whether I should have posted it for days later. When it doesn’t matter anymore. But I’m wearing my resolve-face for now. Continued

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Son of Coma Guy is a season three episode of House M.D. that I find especially powerful for the emotional resonance that I feel it can have for almost any viewer, including myself. Contrary to popular belief by some, TV can make you think.

I believe the more substantial in issue of this episode is the idea of unconditional love vs. conditional love. The easiest answer is to assume that family members can, will, and do lend themselves to dispensing unconditional love to us. (Wilson and Cameron would be the first to argue that it’s not just family that does this - then again, maybe it just takes people like them to do that.) This does not always prove true. We know that, according to House, it is not true when it comes to House and his father.

Aside from family, we develop connections with people - like our friends, and they can also provide this level of unconditional love. It might be true that the only person in House’ life that offers it to him is Wilson. Wilson is very patient. Now, one might argue that Cameron actually has unconditional love for him, as well. Perhaps even Cuddy. It might not be displayed in the same way, but I think it’s possibly true.

I rewound the DVD about five times trying to copy down this exchange between House and Wilson, so forgive me for any mistakes and paraphrasing:

House: Of course, there’s always the simple explanation. Maybe he just doesn’t like his son. The delusion that fathering a son instills a permanent geyser of unconditional love….

Wilson: Maybe your father’s feelings were conditional. Let me put it in terms you can understand. We have an evolutionary incentive to sacrifice for our offspring, our tribe, our friends — keep them safe.

House: Except for all the people who don’t. …Everything is conditional. We just can’t always anticipate the conditions.

So, it’s true - except when it isn’t. Maybe some people, some families - they’re just lucky. There are unlucky people with unlucky situations. And how much more difficult is it to survive in this world when you don’t have unconditional love in your life? Is it even possible? Even if it isn’t there, does a person have to have the illusion that they have it from someone, just to get through the day?

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On the popular show House M.D., Doctor Gregory House has said before, “everybody lies.” The relevance of this simple statement extends past the show itself. However, many House fans like the phrase because it embodies the character of House, and his particular brand of wisdom. Doctor House is portrayed by Hugh Laurie, who is an actor that is as brilliant and arresting as his on screen counterpart.

There is an abundance to know about Hugh Laurie for he’s a man of several layers. For instance, he’s actually English and fakes an American accent, he holds a great talent for playing the piano, he’s written a book (The Gun Seller) …etc. What most people people know him for in America is his role as House. But even as a fan of the show and the actor, one thing that I didn’t know about him until recently was that he suffers from severe clinical depression.

In January of 2005, Laurie told the Daily Record, “I would cling to unhappiness because it a was known, familiar state.” The article cites Laurie’s depression as “crippling” which is a satisfying word to describe depression. It isn’t just one little thing that you can put away like a bad impulse buy of yellow platform shoes - it has the ability to totally shut you down as a functioning human being.

Hugh apparently understands that, as he’s worked in therapy:

“I know a lot of people think therapy is about sitting around staring at your own navel - but it’s staring at your own navel with a goal. And the goal is to one day to see the world in a better way and treat your loved ones with more kindness and have more to give. ” - Hugh Laurie

Right now you can ring in the new year by supporting a worthy cause - the National Alliance of Mental Illness. They have a T-shirt for sale with the “Everybody Lies” phrase. All proceeds for this T-shirt go to support mental health charities. There is a unisex, and a women’s T - both available for $19.95: here.

Supporting mental health charities seems to be especially important to Hugh Laurie, who is a fan of Western medicine. WebMD the Magazine had an article about Laurie in January of 2007 where he said, “I find white coats rather saintly in some ways… I have a reverence for the practice of medicine — I’m a great believer in Western medicine and all its wonders.” In fact, Laurie’s own father is a general practitioner in the UK. It would seem he has a great role in being able to play a Doctor, himself.

In the same article, Laurie comments about what he’s learned about Doctors and patients. He said, “There are no clear and immediate answers to medical problems… The average lay patient assumes or hopes that as soon as he walks into a clinic, his condition will immediately become [clear] and the course of treatment will be immediately apparent.” I find that quote to be of particular interest because it can be applied to both physical and mental health. Just as on the show, sometimes treating a mental illness is not as easy as you’re supposed to believe it will be. You can end up feeling like a guinea pig. You want those clear answers, but there aren’t always clear answers. I know this quite well, as I do have something in common with Hugh Laurie - and it’s not an English accent. (Believe me, I’ve tried.)

I suffer from treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, as well as anxiety disorders, and sometimes a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder. These are things I’ve dealt with since being a young teen, although they have been at their worst from 2002 through mid 2007. Knowing firsthand the struggle someone may have when they have these types of health issues, I am very grateful — not only to the show for supporting mental health, but also for Hugh in speaking out about it.

While this article could end here, this is a topic I am invested in, and care deeply about. I decided I would collect quotes and thoughts from others. I reached out to House fans as well as to people who have mental health issues.

What I noticed, and must note to you now, was that people who are fans of the show did not have as much a problem with giving me input. But when I approached people who weren’t fans, asking them the same questions - I got responses that varied from being ignored to being insulted. At any rate, there are not contributions from non-House fans in here, but not for a lack of trying (I submitted to posting boards about House as well as ones about clinical depression, and also talked to people). I do believe that there are non-House fans out with mental health issues that would speak out about mental health advocacy. I just wasn’t able to find them. (But I welcome their comments here, as well as anyone else’s.)

At any rate, I have several quotes to share with you from the generous contributors and commenter’s to my queries.

Savannah Nicole L. (20) is a mental health advocate and House fan from PA. Being an advocate is important to her, especially because she has mental health issues, and feels judged for having them. She told me that she currently has, “…Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), Bipolar Disorder, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).” As someone who strikes me as having a good grasp on their problems and infuses life with a healthy dose of humor where possible, she added, “Yay, Alphabet soup?”

About the shirts in question, she said, “I personally work with [ mental health ] issues in my community, county, and state, and the ‘Everybody Lies’ shirts and the donation to NAMI attached to it really excited me when I found out about it. House M.D is one of my favorite American TV Shows, and to know that shirts being put out with them helps benefit a cause I care about is really exciting.”

Alison J. (34) from the United Kingdom is a long-time fan of the show and Hugh Laurie. When asked about her awareness of Laurie’s depression she…

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