Robitussin is a popular brand of cough syrup. So the phrase was probably a reference to 'tussin.
robo-tripping. as in tripping from drinking too much robitussin.
Not to say its the official term or anything, but there were a couple of dudes on my freshman dorm who would do robitussin recreationally and “robotripping” is indeed what they called it.
This was 1997 or so.
{damn simulposts}
“Robo-tripping”. as in “tripping on Robitussin”. usually performed by drug-seeking adolescents having problems obtaining more “real” drugs. chug a whole bottle of Robitussin (with DXM) and you’ll have something of an unpleasant psychedelic-ish trip. I believe this is the use House (and most) would be familiar with, and he came up with the idea of it’s use as a coping strategy for the super smart, but I may be wrong… I can’t remember exactly what he said.
http://www.dxmstories.com/robo_tripping.html
http://www.dxmstories.com/facts.html
I think it was a little bit more complicated than that. I agree in as much that intelligence and being well adjusted are not mutually exclusive. However, for someone who would otherwise have difficulty adjusting, being significantly more intelligent can add an additional barrier. It’s important to have intellectual stimulation and not being able to get enough of that can cause problems.
That wasn’t the issue here though. Remember, he met his wife while he was recovering and drugged up. He fell in love with her when he was “dumb” only after recovering and realizing just how much smarter he was it was a question of dumbing himself down to be with the woman he loves, or keeping his intelligence and not being able to stand that huge discrepancy in intelligence.
To give an analogy of something I’d think is similar, would be like being a world class chef and being married to someone who is just as happy eating macaroni and cheese as some magnificently prepared dish because she just doesn’t have the taste. Or imagine being a world class musician, painter, director, or whatever, and having a similar situation where she just doesn’t have the ability to appreciate your art.
So, I don’t think the message was that smart people can’t be happy, but more that happiness is more important and that intelligence isn’t necessarily all it’s cracked up to be; both things I agree with, and he was supposedly a fair bit smarter than I am too.