Forty nonconsumers (subjects with pain lasting for more than 1 year who had not consulted a doctor because of it during the preceding year) were compared with 46 chronic patients at a pain clinic. The mean duration of the nonconsumers' pain was twice as long as that of the patients'. Although their pain intensity, as assessed with pain diaries, did not differ, their estimated pain intensity was less than that of the pain patients; they took fewer analgesics, were less functionally impaired, made less use of coping strategies associated with poor adjustment, were less depressed, and expected less help from external resources. The "non-consumer attitude" appears to be independent of the duration of the pain complaints.