Dear Dan, I know many people who, like me, have been adopted. And many of us have a driving need to meet their birth parents. I don’t. But I do suffer from a lifelong sense of not belonging and wonder if you could suggest some possible ways to cope with this. My adoptive parents did […]

Dear Dan, My son has been anxious and easily distracted since he was 5 years old. He has had difficulty paying attention to his schoolwork. He also was quite shy and didn’t make friends easily, but we thought this would improve with time. We never thought he had any kind of learning disability because he […]

Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them and they flew. – Christopher Logue I have a new friend named Jacob and we recently celebrated his first birthday. He had no idea what was going on, of course, but he did […]

Dear Dan, I’m having some stepfamily problems. My husband and I are in a relatively new second marriage. He has one son and I have a daughter. Last night my teenage daughter had two friends sleep over. When my husband came home late, tired and hungry from a long day at work, he did not […]

Dear Dan, My daughter died three years ago of the lung disease mesothelioma at age 38. She had suffered from depression, panic, and anxiety from a very young age. When she was 2, I had depression and didn’t respond to her for months. I was not a hugging, loving mother similar to my own. And, […]

Dear Dan, Are some people truly beyond hope or help? My inclination is, yes, there are individuals that are beyond hope, but I am wondering what your experience tells you. The context of my question is this. I have a cousin who is a drug user, a criminal, a liar, and so many other awful […]

Her real name is Yu-Chen, but everyone calls her Yo-Yo. I don’t quite know what that means in Mandarin, but it seems like a perfect nickname for this 15-year-old girl with sparkling eyes, a perpetual smile, and all the energy and enthusiasm you would expect from someone her age. Born with a severe hearing impairment, […]

Several months ago I received an e-mail from Chou Chin-Haur, founder of the Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation in Taiwan. He told me I had been selected as one of 12 people around the world to receive the “Fervent Love of Life” award and that they would fly me and a companion to Taipei […]

Dear Dan, I have two children, both in their 30s. Ten years ago I came to the realization that my sexual orientation was not compatible with my long-term heterosexual marriage. My husband and I divorced amicably, but it devastated our children. For years they were angry, hurt, and distant. Things are better now between them […]

Since depression affects 20 percent of the population, this illness probably touches most of us. So what can we do when a loved one is depressed and refusing treatment? The “distraught mother” below will be joining me on tomorrow’s Web chat. Dear Dan, I enjoyed reading your column, but your last one on “the depths […]