Childhood depression - Sad and hopeless.

These two words describe far too many Wyoming teens, according to the State Department of Education.

The department's 2003 Wyoming Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a biennial survey that measures major health risk behaviors of youth, found more than 30 percent of high school students said they had felt "so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities."

This percentage has risen since 1999, when roughly 23 percent of high school students gave affirmative answers to the same question.

No one has been able to pinpoint exactly why there are so many unhappy children and teens, but they have some ideas.

"I think we live in such a hurried society," said Kimberly Austin, chairperson of the Natrona County Child Protection Team. "Even if the child is fortunate enough to live with both parents, both are working just to make ends meet. Lots of kids go home to an empty house."

She also said increased standards in school and high divorce rates could contribute to greater stress.

Drug abuse, particularly with methamphetamine, also complicates the picture, said Jean Davies, who works at Wyoming Behavioral Institute and serves on both the state and Natrona County suicide prevention task forces.

But Davies cautioned against thinking there is always a specific reason fueling depression. In many cases, depression is simply biological.

"It's not something you choose to have -- it's an illness, like diabetes is an illness," Davies said.

Don Benson, director of Three Trails, has some opinions of his own as to why childhood depression is increasing -- he thinks children are witnessing a great deal of uncertainty and inconsistency in society.

It might make them feel they are powerless to make any change, he said.

Benson spoke of corporate and government scandals, as well as the Iraq war and subsequent protests.

"I think that kids look at this, and the idea of how confident they can be, how they can believe in their future and in their leaders could be questioned," he said. "There just is a lot of ambiguity about how do you live a good life."

"You've even got people deciding what a marriage should or shouldn't be," he added,

A hidden problem

Depression in teenagers is often masked, Benson said.

"Moodiness is normal for teenagers, but it could also be a symptom of depression, if it's severe," he said. "Irritability is also a symptom for teenagers, as opposed to adults, who have more classical symptoms of depression."

In fact, the idea that teens are just "moody" often prevents people from seeking treatment for their children, according to the National Institutes of Mental Health.

Teens who are depressed also might act out by skipping school, feeling guilty and worthless, abusing drugs or alcohol, a drop in grades with no explanation, truancy and absenteeism.

"They're isolating themselves from peers, not doing anything, lonely," Benson said. "It could be accompanied by something like an eating disorder, because those are based on very poor self-esteem and that's a common thing with depression."

A family affliction

In some cases, parents might not be able to identify the depression in their children because they themselves are depressed, Austin said.

It might be that child depression is representative of depression in Wyoming at large.

Davies said Wyoming ranks fourth in the nation for suicides per capita. And it isn't just the state -- it's the region. The first 10 states in suicide statistics are all in the West.

Experts don't know exactly why this is, she said, but rural isolation, the fact that firearms are more accepted here and that many people who move out West leave families and support networks, are possible reasons.

Schools can help battle depression, Davies said. The Natrona County School District implemented a suicide prevention curriculum by which yellow ribbons and cards are distributed to all junior high and high school students.

If a student is feeling depressed or even suicidal, they can hand the card to a counselor or a friend, Davies said.

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