Anyone who is “different” to the other people in his or her life will find that there is always a price to pay as well as rewards to be reaped. A patient suffering in this respect can be asked whom he or she would rather resemble or be if this were possible, and what would be gained and lost from such a swap. It often becomes clear that the individual is different for a good reason, and that there is a value in remaining so.

“I’m different to all the others.” “Do you want the others to be different?” “If the others were different, I’d want to be the same, but as they’re all the same, I’d rather be different.”