ABSTRACT
After everything that has been said so far, it may be hard to believe that the role of psychiatric patient has any advantages. Nevertheless, there are some people for whom it is the best available option in a desperate situation and who are prepared to go to considerable lengths to find their way into hospital. Once inside, they are often the most difficult and demoralising people to deal with. Typically they absorb enormous amounts of staff time and energy, acquire a whole assortment of diagnoses, run through every possible treatment, are discussed at numerous case conferences, and still fail to get better.
