The aim of the study was to describe the general behaviour, living arrangements and level of health services contact of the mentally ill population of a health district in Papua New Guinea. The immediate relatives of 31 'longlong' people living in Ialibu District were interviewed. About half of the mentally ill subjects were able to cook and look after a garden. Just over half had engaged in physical violence or stolen and one-fifth had been physically restrained. Almost all were living in their own village although not all were living with their own families. Just over half had had contact with health services and this contact had usually been brief and, in the relatives' eyes, unsatisfactory.