Andrew E. Slaby and Lili Frank Garfinkel

In the following viewpoint, Andrew E. Slaby and Lili Frank Garfinkel contend that an estimated 10 percent of high school students suffer from depression. For many of these teens, the authors maintain, the emotional pain caused by their depression is so debilitating that they begin to believe the only way to ease it is to commit suicide. With proper intervention and treatment, teenagers who are depressed can be helped to overcome their suicidal tendencies, Slaby and Garfinkel assert. Slaby is a psychiatrist in New York specializing in depression and crisis intervention. Garfinkel is a freelance writer.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What characteristics must be present for a diagnosis of clinical depression to be made, according to the authors?
2. What are some markers that may predispose teenagers to depression...