Getting help for depressed teenagers.

Treating adolescent depression can mean the difference between life and death for a teenager, indicates Roland Ciaranello, the Nancy Friend Pritzker Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University Medical Center. "Identifying the problem and then beginning appropriate drug and/or counseling treatment can often mean the difference between success or failure in school, a productive life, or even prevention of suicide.

"When we talk about clinically depressed adolescents, we're not describing sad kids or the abrupt. dramatic mood swings common among teenagers. We're talking about patients suffering from an unrelenting, debilitating malady that nevertheless can benefit from appropriate treatment.

"How do you recognize the signs of depression in kids? To begin with, we're not talking about the guy who breaks up with his girlfriend on Thursday, mopes around class on Friday, and then returns to normal by...