The dependent clinger
Dependent clingers alternate between requesting reassurance and demanding many differ- ent forms of attention (such as analgesics, long explanations, or the physician’s time). These patients feel like bottomless pits of need, and a physician often finds that they are avoiding the patient’s calls and visits. The behavior of these “velcro patients” comes from a profound need to be taken care of.
One warning sign of the dependent clinger is the patient who idealizes the physician and professes their undying admiration for their doctor. This patient initially makes health care professionals feel special. However, it does not take long for the physician to become “the inexhaustible mother; the patient becomes the unplanned, unwanted, unlovable child.”3 These are the patients who take up too much time, call outside office hours, request objectively unnecessary office visits, and may “cry wolf” to your answering service, simply to get your attention.
The best management of such a patient is to set very firm limits regarding appointments and telephone calls. The physician needs to kindly, but clearly, remind the patient that he or she cannot be an inexhaustible resource to the patient, available at any time of day or night. Regular office visits should be scheduled when the patient can see the doctor and ask questions. These actions should give the patient the contact he or she needs without disrupting the office and the physician’s life.