For two months, he fell asleep in the La-Z-Boy in the living room with the television on. Three weeks ago, the family moved to a new house. Springtime. A new start.

Her grandfather is still traumatized. He thinks of the hundreds who came to Martika's funeral, the unfulfilled promise, the happiness in store if she could have just made it through the sadness.

"I don't think kids at that age know how important they are in the larger network of life," Bate said. "She thought she was just a pebble."

The state clearly has not adequately addressed the issue in the past decade. Not much has changed in that time. There is a core of dedicated Utah professionals who continue to study suicide, but money for ongoing research and prevention programs is in short supply.

"I don't think the public understands mental health issues. . . . Because of that, I don't think some kids are getting the support they need," psychiatrist Black said.

Utahns in general remain squeamish about openly discussing the problem and its complex psychological causes.

"I believe if the whole suicide issue wasn't so cloaked in secrecy," said Ray Wahl, administrator of Utah's Juvenile Court System, "then we could deal with some of these kids at the front end, instead of after something bad has happened."

Several doctors associated with the University of Utah School of Medicine participated in an unprecedented study on youth suicide on the barriers to mental health treatment for adolescents.

For the study, officials examined the suicide deaths of 49 Utah young people. They conducted 270 hours of interviews with parents and other survivors to evaluate their access to mental health treatment.

The study made clear the role society's attitude plays in this problem and concluded those who died faced the following barriers for adequate mental health care:

• The belief that nothing could help.

• The belief that seeking help is a sign of weakness or failure.

• The reluctance to admit to having mental health problems.

• The denial of problems.

• The embarrassment about seeking help.

The study concluded, "It is suggested that the stigma of mental illness is a considerable barrier to mental health treatment."

Shurtleff saw this dynamic firsthand.

When the state's top law enforcer first spoke publicly — and personally — about better education and awareness on teen suicide, he got some advice from friends.

"Are you sure you want to be so public about this?" they asked. "This could hurt your career."

"We have this 'All is well in Zion' kind of thing going here," Shurtleff said.