We often encourage young people to speak up when they're struggling.
We tell them to ask for help, talk to someone they trust, and find healthy ways to manage stress.
But how often do we consider whether they've actually been taught the skills necessary to recognize, understand, and navigate their emotions?
Adolescence is a period of significant emotional, psychological, and social development. Young people are learning to manage relationships, academic expectations, social pressures, and their developing sense of identity.
For some, these experiences can become overwhelming, particularly when additional challenges such as trauma, family instability, bullying, or mental health difficulties are present.
In 2018, while pursuing my Master of Social Work at the University of Southern California, I co-developed a proposed school-based suicide prevention program called L.I.V.E. (Living in Various Emotions).
The program was designed to support adolescents experiencing suicidal thoughts by integrating crisis management, problem-solving therapy, and social-emotional skill development.
Looking back, the project raises an important question about how we approach student mental health:
Should our efforts focus primarily on identifying students in crisis, or should we also be strengthening the skills and support systems that help students navigate distress before it escalates?
Recognizing Distress Is Only the Beginning
Suicide prevention efforts often emphasize recognizing warning signs and encouraging students to seek help.
These are important components of prevention.
However, identifying emotional distress does not automatically mean a young person knows how to manage it.
A student may recognize that they're overwhelmed but struggle to identify what they're feeling.
Another may understand that they need support but lack confidence in communicating their concerns.
Some adolescents may have difficulty imagining solutions when confronted with problems that feel impossible to resolve.
This is particularly important because emotional distress can influence how individuals interpret situations and perceive their available options.
When someone feels overwhelmed, their ability to think flexibly and consider alternatives may become more limited.
For adolescents experiencing suicidal thoughts, timely professional assessment and intervention are essential.
But beyond responding to immediate safety concerns, we should also consider how to help young people develop the emotional and problem-solving skills that support their longer-term well-being.
Learning to Live Through Difficult Emotions
When my classmate and I developed the L.I.V.E. program, we chose its name intentionally.
Living in Various Emotions reflected the idea that young people need opportunities to experience and navigate a range of emotions, including sadness, anger, frustration, and uncertainty.
The goal was not to eliminate uncomfortable emotions.
It was to help students develop healthier ways of responding to them.
I think this distinction is important.
We sometimes communicate that emotional well-being means feeling happy, calm, or positive.
But psychological health does not require the absence of difficult emotions.
Sadness can accompany loss. Anger may arise when someone experiences injustice. Anxiety can emerge in situations involving uncertainty.
These emotions are part of the human experience.
Emotional regulation is not about preventing ourselves from feeling. It's about developing the capacity to recognize our emotions and respond to them in ways that support our well-being.
For adolescents, these skills can involve identifying emotional triggers, recognizing changes in physiological arousal, communicating distress, and learning when to seek additional support.
Why Problem-Solving Skills Matter
One of the interventions included in our proposed program was problem-solving therapy.
The approach involves helping individuals identify a problem, explore possible responses, evaluate alternatives, and consider the consequences of different choices.
Although this process may sound straightforward, it can become much more difficult when someone is emotionally overwhelmed.
Imagine a student experiencing ongoing conflict with friends.
They may interpret the situation as permanent, believe they have no control, or struggle to imagine how the relationship could improve.
A structured problem-solving approach can help them examine the situation more carefully and identify manageable next steps.
Importantly, not every problem has an immediate solution, and some circumstances require intervention from supportive adults or professionals.
Problem-solving skills should never become a way of placing responsibility on young people for circumstances outside their control.
Instead, they can help students recognize where they have agency while identifying situations in which additional support is necessary.
The Importance of Crisis Intervention
Our original proposal also included crisis management for students experiencing suicidal thoughts or behaviors.
This involved identifying immediate safety concerns, understanding relevant risk and protective factors, and developing appropriate intervention plans.
One of the most important distinctions in suicide prevention is recognizing that coping skills instruction and suicide risk assessment serve different purposes.
A student experiencing acute suicidal risk requires prompt assessment and an appropriate safety response.
A weekly social-emotional group cannot replace that responsibility.
Effective school-based prevention therefore requires coordinated systems that connect students to qualified mental health professionals, involve caregivers and other supports when appropriate, and establish clear procedures for responding to safety concerns.
It also requires recognizing that screening tools are only one component of assessment.
A questionnaire cannot independently determine the full complexity of a student's psychological circumstances.
Clinical judgment, direct assessment, and appropriate follow-up remain essential.
What Does Effective Prevention Actually Look Like?
When we originally developed L.I.V.E., we proposed measuring changes in suicidal thoughts and coping skills using structured assessment tools.
Our goal was to examine whether providing emotional skills training alongside crisis management and problem-solving support could improve student outcomes.
However, revisiting the proposal also reveals important ethical considerations.
For example, our original research design included ambitious expectations for eliminating suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Today, I would approach that objective more cautiously.
No intervention can guarantee that suicidal thoughts will disappear entirely, and psychological improvement is rarely linear.
A meaningful evaluation might instead examine changes in symptom severity, coping strategies, help-seeking behavior, safety, and access to supportive relationships.
Likewise, identifying students at elevated risk creates an obligation to provide timely follow-up and appropriate care, regardless of whether they participate in a research program.
The effectiveness of prevention should never be measured solely by how many students complete a program.
We must also consider whether students are safer, better supported, and more capable of accessing help when they need it.
Rethinking Our Responsibility to Students
Looking back on this project, I appreciate how it introduced me to the relationship between prevention, intervention, and program evaluation.
But what I find most meaningful today is the underlying philosophy.
Young people shouldn't be expected to navigate complex emotional experiences without guidance, opportunities to practice coping strategies, and access to supportive relationships.
Schools play an important role in helping students develop these capacities.
That responsibility extends beyond classroom lessons about mental health awareness.
It includes creating environments where students feel comfortable seeking assistance, where adults respond thoughtfully to emotional distress, and where mental health professionals have the resources necessary to provide appropriate interventions.
As a psychiatric social worker, I believe the goal is not simply to teach students what to do when they're struggling.
It's also to help them understand their emotional experiences, recognize when they need support, and develop confidence that difficult moments can be navigated with appropriate help.
Final Reflections
When we think about adolescent suicide prevention, we often focus on what happens during a crisis.
But prevention also invites us to consider the experiences, relationships, and resources that shape a young person's well-being long before that moment.
Teaching emotional regulation and problem-solving skills cannot eliminate every risk.
Neither can supportive relationships or school-based mental health programs prevent every tragedy.
However, together with timely assessment, effective treatment, and coordinated safety practices, these supports can contribute to a more comprehensive approach to student mental health.
Perhaps one of the most important things we can teach young people is not how to avoid difficult emotions, but how to recognize that they do not have to face those emotions alone.
Because supporting students means more than helping them get through a crisis.
It means creating conditions in which they can continue learning, developing, and finding support throughout their lives.
