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+ABC's Elementary and Sherlock Holmes's abnormal addiction
+
+Sherlock Holmes is addicted to cocaine in the Sign of Four.
+He claims that he uses merely for a "mental stimulant," which is
+probably partially true given Sherlock's unusual psyche.
+ABC's Elementary portrays Sherlock in a similar way: he's a recovering
+addict who manages to stop drugs cold turkey, mostly from his father's
+behest.
+The show uses drugs and medical imagery extensively in the development
+of Sherlock's character.
+Dr. Watson, the voice of reason for Sherlock, is an ex-surgeon and
+Sherlock's sober companion, meaning that the theme of Watson's Sign of
+Four speech---asking Sherlock to care for his health---is repeated
+throughout the series.
+She puts the focus squarely on Sherlock's internal struggle with a past
+that he wants to hide.
+This manifests in some of Sherlock's unhealthy habits like refusing to
+sleep until a case is solved or refusing to play his violin or being
+mentally absent at group therapy meetings.
+Mental health, a subject mostly untouched by Doyle, is a common theme of
+Elementary.
+
+[IMAGE: Low-Resolution Elementary Title, CAPTION: Elementary studies
+Sherlock's ups and downs in terms of his habits and treatment of others,
+SRC: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/
+Elementary_intertitle.png]
+
+But Elementary also tells stories about physiological health.
+Like in The Sign of Four, Elementary's Sherlock follows storylines with
+poisoning and medical elements.
+Drugs are often the crux of the medical stories Sherlock investigates: a
+heroin poisoning of a bank's executive meant to frame it as an overdose
+hints at the social elements of addiction and health.
+The Sign of Four also handles the social elements of health: both Major
+Sholto and Captain Morstan die in events directly connected to thefts of
+the treasure, and the original Sign of Four plan was motivated by
+Sholto's self-inflicted poverty (gambling addiction).
+The framing of both stories in Sherlock's cocaine "addiction" (I use
+quotes here because it isn't exactly portrayed as such) clarifies health
+as a social image because Sherlock is mostly treated as well by his
+peers, being judged by the quality of his work in either story---the
+image of unhealthfulness brought on by cocaine isolated as a possible
+danger rather than a factor determining health on its own.
+
+[IMAGE: Cocaine Toothache Drops ad, CAPTION: At the time the original
+Sherlock Holmes stories were written, the negative effects of drugs were
+neglected by doctors, but even in modern depictions Sherlock appears as
+sane and healthy despite vice, SRC: https://upload.wikimedia.org
+/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Cocaine_tooth_drops.png]