Articles by Paula Statman

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To the father who writes that his 5-year-old says that “he wishes he was dead and that he is the stupidest person in the world”: You say your son says these things only to his mom and that he is normally lighthearted and happy. Something doesn’t make sense here. First of all, these are not typical remarks for a 5-year-old. What person(s) in his life makes comments like this who he is spending time with? Also, you say his remarks “shock” your wife. That tells me he is trying to get her attention in negative, counter-productive ways. Since you are taking the lead in this (is your wife as concerned as you are?) do some good detective work and find out 1) when he makes these remarks? and 2) what is happening just prior to him saying them? There’s more research to be done and you are right to pursue this. To the dad who writes that his 8-month-old has screaming spells of 30 minutes to an hour: Start by talking to your pediatrician. There could be a variety of reasons that I can’t explore with you in this format.