Dr. K Diagnoses: The Office (Part 2)

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]What about Dwight Shrew?

[00:00:01]>> I think Dwight Shroo is a good example of deprivation of upbringing. So he's not socialized well. That's his real diagnosis if there is one. So he has his own like system of doing things. Like many people who are not socialized well, he falls into certain fandoms like Star uh Starcraft. He shows up as Carrian. Uh Battlestar Galactica. Like he falls into these fandoms, is enamored with martial arts. He's quite a caricature of us. I think he just doesn't know how to participate with the other humans because he grew up in a world that has just a completely different set of rules. You know, he was taught that you need to know learn your rules and if you don't, you'll be eaten in your sleep.

[00:00:42]>> What about Meredith?

[00:00:43]>> So, clearly she's got an alcohol use disorder. A lot of times people will have something called poly substance abuse or poly substance use. So this is where it's not only having a drug of choice, but you will lean into other stuff like anything to stop negative emotions or going on inside you. She is a really good example of someone who is addicted to substances, not to make the pain go away, but to bring life back into her life. It's so sad, but I see this all the time. There's just a lot of people who sort of have like these kind of like deadend lives. You're just looking to not be numb, right? You're looking to have some fun. You're looking to have some excitement. You're looking to get laid. You're looking to get hammered. Like, let's do stuff. Maybe history of trauma. Not clear, but it seems like she comes from not a very like stable background. You have to rule out trauma anytime there's a substance use disorder.

[00:01:34]>> Okay. And what about Angela?

[00:01:35]>> Angela is actually a really good example of projective defense and projective identification. She's like really rigid, right? She's really particular. She labels people a lot. Like that's her big feature is you get labeled by Angela and then you get judged. So projection happens when I have a part of me that I don't like. So then what I do is I bury that part of me. It doesn't go dormant.

[00:01:59]It's active. It's just in my subconscious. So it still is creating problems. She'll look at one button that Pam has Pam has unbuttoned and suddenly Pam's a [ __ ] I knew it. And who is it, by the way, that is having a torid affair with someone at the office that no one else is aware of that she keeps secret? It's such a good character because it's like a perfect example of projection.