Because I've been on the receiving end of being seen as a nuisance. Because to me, that assumption doesn't mean writing them off in the way that "a manipulative nuisance" does. Because I've been crazy and known I've been crazy and not known how not to be crazy. Because when you've given up on yourself, there's nothing worse than being given up on by other people. Because I find it more productive in my life to think in terms of liking/disliking a behaviour than in terms of characterising a whole person on the basis of the behaviour I see. I'm not going to claim that I don't find attention seeking and manipulation annoying and frustrating, nor that I think it's something to encourage. I do find it frustrating. I'm a moderator on a mental health forum and there are a lot of members who drive me nuts (in a different way ;)). But at the end of the day I know what it's like to be crazy, so I make the assumptions that lead to the most compassionate outcome. Sometimes. OR at least I try. Mostly I avoid dealing with people whose behaviour really frustrates me. But to say "a nuisance" is a pretty negative judgement on a person. It reduces them, dismisses them. I find that a pretty harsh thing to do to a person so I try not to do it. If I assume that somebody is behaving in this way because they have some need they don't know how to fulfil otherwise (e.g. they don't feel cared for unless they're the centre of attention) then (assuming I have the time or inclination) I can work with them towards recognising that they can matter to people whether or not they're the centre of attention, and thus get them to stop wanting/needing to act in such an annoying way. *shrug* For me it boils down to "do as you would be done by". As someone with mental health problems I happen to know exactly how I would like to be done by in such a situation and what would be the most effective treatment for me. NB Again I'm no talking about what should or should not have been done in this particular situation but rather commenting on the general situation of how I respond to what appears to me to be manipulative behaviour. I recognise the constraints of the situation in the original post and I also recognise that dealing with this must be very frustrating.