Anger is an understandable reaction to the discovery that one harbors a debilitating disease, for since everyone must eventually die, surely there are more pleasant routes toward that destination if given the right to choose. Moreover, anger is thought to be a less degrading form of expressing depression. No one wants to suffer or restrict himself in a manner unnatural to his lifestyle, nor lose his sense of control, no matter how much or little he actually has. If anger is a prevalent emotion, its release is necessary; yet projecting that anger on undeserving family members or hospital personnel is unfair. Anger is counter-productive when wrongly displaced; fanatical rage and irate demands are increasingly ignored and replaced by the unfortunate avoidance of the enraged individual. No one can benefit from this chain reaction. An alternative which could be used by the patient having the objectivity to discover his outward rage is anger expressed through writing or intelligent conversations rather than transforming the anger into unfounded complaints. The problem is not the unsmiling intern, or the wife who arrived ten minutes later than planned. The problem is health, and if not dealt with, attitude as well. A reasonable exception is when the patient's anger is derived of pain; it is virtually impossible to be civil if each breath heralds another moment of severe physical anguish. This belligerence should not be taken personally by either relatives or hospital staff, nor should the unfounded anger described above be ingested as relating to their presence or prescribed duties. If it is attention the patient needs, it is more likely to be given if he behaves in a manner deserving of amenity. It is a pleasure to be near a person who, despite his personal problems, can retain humor and conduct himself in a respectable manner. If my experience is any indication of the quality of the residency in hospitals, I found the staff to be most personable if treated likewise. On the rare occasion that a patient is forced to abide a hostile nurse, or one who refuses to believe that he is suffering to the degree that he claims, a complaint is well within reason. One case in particular concerned an incontinent elderly woman who, after an accident over which she had no control, was chastised by a hostile nurse, resulting in tears which should never have been provoked. A patient is not paying for abuse; moreover, a hospital without patients is just a stone building, and its personnel is up for hire. Inflicting emotional anguish has no place in the medical profession.