types of behavior that might be the cause of a youngster's suicide (Weiner, 1980,1982). Some psychologists contend that depression among young is often overlooked, because the symptoms are dismissed as a normal part of adolescence. For example, in a 1982 survey of 116 adolescent girls from different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, attending San Francisco's public high schools, 23 percent were moderately to severely depressed as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory; and 39 percent reported occasional thoughts of suicide (Gibbs, 1983). Even among adolescent psychiatric patients, fewer than 20 percent are diagnosed as having problems primarily caused by depression, yet half of these young people manifest symptoms of depression including behavior such as self-deprecation, crying spells, suicidal thoughts, and experience feelings of sadness, pessimism, and worthlessness (Weiner, 1980). Data like these have led to the suggestion that adults should become more sensitive to adolescents' symptoms of depression.
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