Some interesting thoughts on truth vs. lies from two of my favorite philosophers — Mark Twain and Gregory House.
“If you tell the truth, you don’t need to remember anything.”
– Mark Twain
“I don’t ask why patients lie, I just assume they all do.”
“It’s a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what.”
“I’ve found that when you want to know the truth about someone that someone is probably the last person you should ask.”
– Gregory House

So, while everyone lies sometimes, people struggling with an eating …

House: You’re either perfect or you’re sick. In my experience, “sick” is much more common.

There’s definitely a higher-incidence of perfectionism among individuals with eating disorders, but had never thought about it the other way — that people who appear “perfect” are more likely to have mental illness. Okay, so this is not research and not exactly what House is…

Chase: How would you feel if I interfered in your personal life?
House: I’d hate it. That’s why I cleverly have no personal life.
If you replace “personal life” with “personal issues,” I could have written those lines (although much less eloquently and using three times as many words).  It’s much harder to be hurt when you just don’t have issues–right?
Along the same lines, Chase and House have another conversation later in the show:
Chase: Why does everybody need to know my business?
House: People like talking about people. Makes us feel superior. Makes …

“I’m not deflecting because I’m avoiding something deep. I’m deflecting because I’m avoiding something shallow.” – House, MD
One of my biggest treatment pet peeves is when professionals ask non-deep “deep” questions. For example:

What does it mean to feel?
How did it feel to be in that space?
How does it feel to be in this space now?
What does it mean for you to not be in that space anymore?
How do you experience that process?
What would it mean for there to be grey in your world?
How does it feel to have …

Chase: You don’t let other people’s problems affect you. You don’t let your own problems affect you, and it’s the screw-ups that make us interesting. You’re never out of control, which is good… and boring. Never losing control means you’re never putting yourself out there, never pushing your limits.
– House MD, Lucky Thirteen

The problem with perfection (ha, that’s ironic): it’s boring. There’s nothing “special” about seeming perfect. And yet, I still strive for it. I want for everything to be “correct.”
I want to….

always get …

Dr. Wilson: House! Why the hell did you let an unstable patient wander the hallways?!
Dr. House: His leash broke.
I’ve always found the transition between “treatment” and the “real world” fascinating. One minute you are a “real adult” — you can drive your car, eat what you want, walk the dog, go to work, go on a vacation, make bad choices, make good choices… but as soon as you walk through those treatment-center doors, all of these adult “privileges” are revoked. Your purse and coat is locked up …

You think that the only truth that matters is that truth can be measured. Good intentions don’t count. What’s in your heart doesn’t count. Caring doesn’t count.
–Moriarty, House M.D. No Reason

The belief that “things don’t count” has always been a huge obstacle for me in recovery. Maybe originally I used the eating disorder to physically communicate something that I couldn’t verbalize… or maybe it was a manifestation of an unspoken problem that had to surface somehow. Or maybe I just had the biology + trauma = anorexia equation …

From an Episode of House, MD: Episode 3-12, One Day, One Room

In case you haven’t seen it, a girl has been raped and refuses to talk about the trauma. These are the last lines of the episode.
CUDDY: She’s gonna be okay.
HOUSE: Yeah, it’s that simple.
CUDDY: She’s talking about what happened. That’s huge. You did good.
HOUSE: Everyone will tell you… that that’s what we gotta make her do. We have to help her, right? Except we can’t. We drag out her story. Tell each other that it’ll help her heal. …