Normal
The University is currently operating under normal conditions
Shining a light on mental health
As Carolina’s spring semester continues, it's important to remember it's always the right time to take care of yourself and make sure others around you are doing the same.
Keep reading to learn about campus resources and how Tar Heel students, faculty and staff are using outreach and research to prioritize mental health on campus and beyond.
Carolina resources
Counseling and Psychological Services
Carolina's Counseling and Psychological Services is strongly committed to addressing the mental health needs of the student body through timely access to consultation and connection to clinically appropriate services.
The Heels Care Network
A gateway for mental health and wellness resources for everyone on campus, the Heels Care Network can help you find a support group, learn strategies for mental health, connect with trainings and advocacy organizations and find wellness events on campus.
Employee Assistance Program
If you need help, the UNC-Chapel Hill Employee Assistance Program is available. The EAP is a confidential counseling and resource program that is designed to help University employees and their families deal with both personal and work-related concerns.
Campus initiatives
‘Hope Signs’ promote mental well-being on campus
The messages provide timely, visible reminders of mental health resources in areas where they are most needed.
Why take Mental Health First Aid?
Program manager Alicia Freeman explains how training to intervene in crisis situations benefits Carolina’s community.
Students can connect through CAPS therapy groups
Counseling and Psychological Services team offers 24 options to help Tar Heels talk through specific issues.
‘Our State, Our Wellbeing’ searched for solutions to suicide
Leader Anita Brown-Graham reflects on Carolina Across 100’s yearlong program focused on mental health.
Friendship Bench reimagines mental health care
Part of UNC Project-Malawi, the program trains volunteers with no prior medical experience to offer talk therapy.
Graduate Student Experience offers holistic support
The initiative aims to improve working conditions and well-being for graduate and professional students.
Hear from Heels
Emotion detective tracks effects of stress
Doctoral candidate Adrienne Bonar studies the many factors that shape people’s feelings.
‘Insecure overachiever’ puts mental health first
After what he calls a “brain attack,” Michael Stutts sought help to put life and work in perspective.
First-year student is a mental health advocate
At 16, Idania Rodriguez founded a nonprofit information hub and aims to “push her mission” at Carolina.
Brian Hogan's circuitous path to teaching
In this video, the chemistry professor talks about how he found a way to quiet his lingering doubts.
LaChelle Allen advocates for student success
As part of the UNC School of Education Helping Heels program, she is training to be a school counselor in a rural area.
Student organization spotlight
Active Minds at Carolina
What’s a mental health condition Natalie Tuinstra thinks is important to focus on?
“A lot of us are lonely — even if we don’t show it,” said Tuinstra, past president of Active Minds Carolina, a student group that aims to increase students’ awareness of mental health conditions and provide resources and information, serving as a liaison between students and the mental health community.
We Wear the Mask
African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar in 1895 wrote “We Wear the Mask,” a poem about how Black suffering is often hidden to conform to society. More than a century later, a Carolina student organization uses the title of Dunbar’s poem as its name and its theme as their focus.
Learn more about We Wear the Mask and its work around campus.
Carolina expertise
What is social media’s effect on mental health?
Increased use 18 months into the pandemic made college students more depressed and anxious, Carolina researchers found.
Rosa Li gives surgeon general food for thought
The psychology scholar critiques Vivek Murthy’s idea of a warning label for teen social media use.
Body image expert offer tips for healthy eating
Anna Bardone-Cone’s lab focuses on eating disorders, particularly in diverse populations.
How to give and ask for mental health support
A Carolina clinical psychologist explains peer support for mental health and offers tips to help yourself and others.