The key to understanding suicide and self-destructive behavior comes from becoming aware of how certain destructive thought processes control the urge to end one's life. Being aware of how these thoughts are veiled and can lead to a self-destructive downward spiral allows clinicians to better assess risks and design interventions for depressed and suicidal clients. According to Nock and Banajii (2007), worldwide, adolescent suicides have increased significantly, averaging one million each year. Many adolescents experience strong feelings of stress, confusion, and doubt during the growing up process. Pressures to succeed, the economy, and the environment can intensify these feelings. Currently, self-assessment has failed to prevent adolescent suicide; the tools available to help health professionals detect potential suicidal ideation are not sufficiently reliable (Nock and Banajii, 2007). In fact, Nock and Benajii said that often during therapy, suicidal thoughts may not be present and surface once the patient returns home or, often, the patient deliberately hides the urge to end their life . Because existing tools rely solely on subjective statements, it is very difficult to decipher the congruence between what is verbalized and what remains unsaid (Nock & Banajii, 2007).HypothesisIn their article, Nock and Banajii (2007) use three hypotheses to evaluate their new approach. tool developed, based on the already existing Implicit Association Test (IAT) to help detect potential suicidal ideation in adolescents. This tool is called Suicidal Ideation-Implicit Association Test (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 ... as guns might be used in conjunction with knives because that some participants did not establish a correlation between cutting words, for example, and suicidal ideation. The benefits clearly outweighed any harm and if this tool were perfected, it could in fact become the most reliable of all those used by mental health providers today. Policy and practice could change as this test could be implemented for 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 teen suicide could decrease significantly. Works Cited Nock, MK and Banaji, MR (2007). Predicting suicide ideation and attempts in adolescents using a brief performance-based test. Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, 75(5), 707-715.