Dec 18, 2025 By Karen Mansfield 6 min read

Recently, a friend of Paige Szuhoza’s had a panic attack – racing heart, shaky, dizzy.

Szuhoza, a junior at Ringgold High School, sprung into action.

She calmly told her friend to breathe in and then used the 3-3-3 Rule, a grounding technique used to calm down by naming three things you see, identifying three sounds you hear, and touching three things.

Szuhoza knew what to do because she was undergoing training in Teen Mental Health First Aid, a program designed to give students the practical tools they need to recognize warning signs and help a friend through a mental health crisis.

The program is part of UPMC Washington Teen Outreach’s education program, the Road to Mental Health Education, which aims to reduce teen suicide by meeting the mental health needs of teens.

“We had talked about panic attacks and I used the steps we learned here to help calm them down. It was very useful and I really did use it,” said Szuhoza. “When we were learning what to do, (the trainers) said it would be scary, and it was scary and at first I said, ‘I don’t know how to help him,’ but then I calmed myself down and used what they taught me, and it helped.”

On Tuesday, Szuhoza was one of 71 students from 10 Washington County high schools who completed the tMHFA program and became certified Teen Mental Health First Aid Responders.

The students – from Avella, Bentworth, Burgettstown, California Area, Canon-McMillan, Charleroi, Chartiers-Houston, Trinity, Ringgold, and Washington – received their certificates at an event held at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, where they underwent their final training session.

The students will serve as ambassadors for mental health in their school districts.

tMHFA, adapted by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing from the original Australian program, is used nationwide. The evidence-based program, taught by Teen Outreach staff members who underwent tMHFA training, gives teens the skills to have supportive conversations with their friends and how to get help from a responsible adult.

The program is needed as rates of teen anxiety, depression, and suicide climb across the country.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 40% of U.S. high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness in 2023, with nearly 1 in 5 saying they had seriously considered suicide.

Jamie Bibranoski, a Trinity High School student, said mental health is “a big issue” among teens today.

“Some people stress over school, friends, relationships, home issues, and I think it’s really important for them to get the help that they need. My main lesson from this was it’s OK not to be OK, and asking for help is important. A lot of people feel judged and are afraid to ask for help, but it’s important to ask for help.”

Peer-to-peer support is important, said Amy Podgurski Gough, Teen Outreach COO and community coordinator.

“These young people are being certified in Teen Mental Health First Aid Response, which means they are using a five-step action plan that helps them look for signs, how to ask if someone’s having a crisis, how to get them help, and how to be a supportive friend,” said Podgurski Gough.

The tMHFA curriculum covers a range of issues: anxiety, depression, suicidality, addiction, and other common mental health concerns among teens. It trains teens about the appropriate actions to take if a friend shows warning signs of a problem developing, is in crisis, or is recovering.
“We do not step away from hard-hitting things,” said Podgurski Gough.

The training provided Erin Bevan of Chartiers-Houston with a higher level of confidence in helping classmates who might be anxious or depressed.

“It gave us step-by-step instructions about how to help people out, and that was very helpful,” said Bevan.

Canon-McMillan High School student Audrey Washabaugh said the training made her more comfortable – and less reluctant – addressing serious mental health topics, including suicide.

“I feel like I got a lot of questions answered about how to talk about things, especially when (trainers) said we can ask someone if they’re feeling suicidal, and they let us know if we ask them directly about suicide that it’s not going to put that idea in their head,” said Washabaugh.

Podgurski Gough emphasized to students that the burden does not fall on them to manage their friends’ mental health.

“It is not your responsibility if someone doesn’t get help. I want to make sure you get that message loud and clear,” she told them.

But, she said, opening up conversations will help save lives.

According to Podgurski Gough, the tMHFA responders have already received seven credible texts or calls from teens seeking help from them, and one is now receiving treatment.

Szuhoza’s classmate, Isabella Hooper, a senior, said the program has equipped her to help her peers with mental health challenges they face – and how to better manage stress herself.

“I feel like I have been more helpful to my friends who are going through anxiety or depression. I feel like I actually understand what they’re talking about now, and can help them. And I feel like it’s helped me too, to understand my own emotions and how to regulate them,” said Hooper.