Letter to the Editor: What to do when kids are hurting

Dear Editor:
Not often, but not infrequently in my role as a therapist, I hear “my 8-year-old said he didn’t want to be alive anymore.” Sometimes this statement is a one-off, an exaggeration of how a child is feeling because they were caught in a lie or are embarrassed.

Yet, if you hear statements about wanting to die frequently, coupled with other changes in a child’s mood and personality, it may be a reflection of…