The authors demonstrate the importance of detecting major depressive disorders & substance abuse disorders in adolescents. Psychological autopsies of 6 adolescents who had completed suicide revealed that siblings & best friends consistently provided information that was either unavailable or unknown to the parents. (note: this article is a summary of a presentation to the 17th Annual Meeting of the AAS held in Anchorage, Alaska, May 2-5, 1984.)(NBB)