The key to understanding suicide and self-destructive behavior comes from awareness of how certain destructive thought processes control the need to end one's life. Being aware of how these thoughts are veiled and can lead to a self-destructive downward spiral allows doctors to better assess risk and design interventions for depressed and suicidal patients. According to Nock and Banajii (2007) worldwide, suicides among adolescents have increased dramatically, averaging one million each year. Many adolescents experience strong feelings of stress, confusion, and insecurity as they grow up. Pressures to succeed, the economy, and the environment can intensify these feelings. At present, self-report has not been successful in preventing adolescent suicide; the tools available to help health professionals identify potential suicidal ideation are not sufficiently reliable (Nock & Banajii, 2007). Indeed, Nock and Benajii stated that often during therapy, suicidal ideation may not be present and emerge once the patient returns home or, often, the patient deliberately hides the urge to end his or her life. Because existing instruments are based exclusively on subjective statements, it is very difficult to decipher the congruence between what is verbalized and what remains unsaid (Nock & Banajii, 2007). Assumptions In their article, Nock and Banajii (2007) use three hypotheses to evaluate their new claims. developed tool, based on the already existing Implicit Association Test (IAT) to help detect potential suicidal ideation in adolescents. This instrument is called the Implicit Association Test of Suicidal Ideation (SI-IAT). The first hypothesis identified states that it "would provide the first evidence of a performance-based measure that can distinguish... middle of paper... for example firearms could be used in conjunction with knives because some participants did not correlate the word cutting, for example, with suicidal ideation. The benefits have certainly outweighed any harm and if this tool were perfected, it could actually become the most reliable of all existing ones used by mental health providers today practice could change because this test could be implemented to every adolescent regardless of age or mental health status in schools and during well-child visits through their providers. If this were the case, many adolescents could be screened and the suicide among adolescents could decrease significantly. Works Cited Nock, MK, & Banaji, MR (2007). Predicting suicide ideation and attempts among adolescents using a brief performance-based test. Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, 75(5), 707-715.