Requests for information about psychiatric patients give rise to the question whether the therapist (especially in a hospital) should work primarily for the patient or, as a public servant, for the community, or whether both objectives might be reconciled. The usefulness of releasing information is questioned and some of the disadvantages for the patient noted. When planning for hospitalized patients it is sometimes necessary to release information, but offering information about a patient after he is again responsible for his own welfare is debatable.