Yet the view persists that adolescents are somehow immune to the debilitating clinical depression that afflicts many adults. And such carefree-days-of-youth thinking on the part of some parents and caregivers can yield tragic results.

Teen suicides, which had been on a downward trajectory for the previous two decades, showed an 18 percent rise in 2004 over the previous year, according to a recent report by Journal of the American Medical Association. Although the rate dipped slightly in 2005, the most recent year charted, the number remains well above predicted levels.

As for depression, the World Health Organization reports that one in 33 children and, among them, one in eight teens, is clinically depressed. The organization predicts those numbers could double by 2020.

Those are sobering figures. But they are hardly surprising to child psychiatrists, loved ones of teen suicide victims and teens themselves. To wit:

• Dr. James Margolis, a pediatric psychiatrist and medical director of the Sutter Counseling Center in Sacramento: "Parents tend not to take kids' problems seriously. Breaking up with a girlfriend, doing poorly in school – these mean the world to teens. They are what I call developmentally nearsighted and have a myopic view of reality. Parents need to validate those feelings."

• Chris Bunnell of Auburn, a suicide crisis hotline organizer whose son, Tracy, took his life in 1991: "Ever since I lost my son, I tell people that even if (a teen) mentions just once that 'I'm going kill myself,' don't take it lightly. You need to listen to them and address it more openly."

• Karrie Beeman, 19, whose brother Christopher committed suicide in Auburn in 2004: "I think everyone feels that way sometimes, when you're in the moment and have no options, no way out. You need someone to talk to. But I don't think guys, especially, feel comfortable doing that. You need to know this is normal. You're not alone."

Indeed, for depressed adolescents, those halcyon days of youth can be a cruel promise unfulfilled. Teen years, to them, represent a time of anguish and despair.

Just last month, a student at Sacramento's Mira Loma High School excused himself from class about 10:15 a.m., walked into a restroom and shot himself. It was his 17th birthday. He died the next day. The suicide garnered local media attention because the school was put on lockdown. (Normally, media outlets do not report suicides, fearing that doing so may spawn more attempts.)

Nevada County has reported 24 suicides in the past 12 months. Not all involved adolescents, but enough did to spur Gail Beeman, Christopher's mother, to push for awareness programs in schools. Nevada Union High School was the first to hold one, in late September.

"It's going to continue to get worse unless we deal with it in an open environment," Gail Beeman says. "Let's get rid of that stigma about therapy and antidepressants. And let's teach these kids coping skills."

Experts, for their part, continue to debate the reasons for the spike in suicides.

Some medical professionals, including the National Mental Health Association, blame the effect of the "black box" warning that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration put on antidepressants in 2004, the year before suicide rates rose precipitously. The warning stemmed from several reported cases in which antidepressants were said to have brought on teen suicides.

"It's tough to say that conclusively," says Dr. Robert Hendren, executive director of the University of California, Davis, M.I.N.D. Institute and chief of child psychiatry for the UC Davis School of Medicine. "Sometimes (teen suicide) can fluctuate along with substance abuse. And that JAMA report shows there was an increase in substance abuse. But some might wonder if kids are using substances to self-medicate if they are depressed."

But Hendren and Sutter's Margolis are unequivocal about the benefits of antidepressants.

"Since those warnings came out, we've seen almost a 50 percent decline in primary physicians (prescribing) the drugs," Margolis says. "We're trying to educate physicians that many studies show that antidepressants are overwhelmingly effective for teens.

Call The Bee's Sam McManis, (916) 321-1145.