N.C. universities rally to provide mental health support for students after Helene
By Emily Vespa
While Helene tore through Boone, 20-year-old Mya McClarty braved the heavy downpour to get back to her apartment for her cat, Matcha. Floodwaters forced her to watch from higher ground as the muddy water swirled around her first floor apartment.
She had slept at her partner’s place the night before, not realizing how much flooding Helene would bring when the hurricane’s remnants passed through on the morning of Sept. 27. It took until that afternoon for the waters to recede enough to find Matcha and assess the damage, said McClarty, a junior at Appalachian State University.
McClarty forced open her apartment’s front door, which was swollen with water. Her fridge, toppled by the rushing water, lay askew near the entry. In her Birkenstocks and pajamas, she picked her way through the layer of mud that coated the floors.
“I was trying to take pictures, but I was shaking so bad, just looking around at all the stuff I worked so hard for and everything I’ve ever really owned just being destroyed in a matter of hours,” McClarty said.
She made it to her bedroom, where Matcha sat mostly dry in the middle of the mattress. McClarty said she thinks her cat must have floated there until the water went down.
She slept over at her partner’s that night, too, her head spinning thinking about all the things she had to replace: shoes. clothes. sheets. a laptop. a car.
“I just felt so uncomfortable,” McClarty said. “Your entire life, you have a room, you have a place that you belong, and in that moment, I didn’t have a single thing on me. It was just really overwhelming.”
College students can be uniquely affected when disaster strikes. They’re more likely to be underprepared for a hurricane, which can lead to significant stress in the aftermath. They’re also often separated from their support system at home.
Universities in the western part of the state — UNC Asheville, Appalachian State and Western Carolina University — all suspended classes for at least two weeks. At UNC Asheville, it’ll be at least a month before classes resume. The storm also affected nearly 74,000 students at community colleges in the region.
For many, it’s the second school upheaval in recent memory, the first being the COVID-19 pandemic.
The devastation has galvanized universities across the state in response. Some have launched Helene relief drives and fundraising efforts. All UNC System schools are offering mental health services to any displaced students. A psychiatrist from N.C. State University’s counseling center dispatched to Asheville to support high-risk students and personnel. East Carolina University is providing counseling services to Asheville students 24/7.
“In the last few days, amidst terrible devastation, we have seen tremendous acts of kindness and humanity: neighbor helping neighbor; strangers helping strangers,” said Appalachian State interim Chancellor Heather Norris at a news conference Wednesday.
Helping others during hardship does more than provide physical relief, said Robin Gurwitch, a professor in the Duke University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Center for Child and Family Health. It can lend emotional support to the afflicted and be the first step to healing.
“When I help others, I feel a sense of connection to other people,” Gurwitch said. “That can really begin to help us right our world again.”
Psychological First Aid
Disasters upend our sense of safety and security, Gurwitch said. That can lead to increased levels of stress, anxiety and depression for months afterward, studies show. A 2019 UNC Pembroke and East Carolina University study of 261 rural North Carolina hurricane survivors showed that 67 percent developed a new or worsened mental health condition after Florence in 2018.
Gurwitch said most people are resilient, but the immediate response after a disaster is crucial to ensure that survivors emotionally recover long-term. What’s needed, she said, is called Psychological First Aid, which provides initial support to help reduce distress and help people cope. A key aspect of the approach is connecting people with social support.
“Those connections to others become so important,” Gurwitch said. “No one should be by themselves right now. And that connection may come from friends and family, it may come from neighbors, it may come from strangers.”
Research shows that college students with high levels of social support are less likely to report symptoms associated with acute stress disorder after a hurricane. Gurwitch said helping others is a small way to lift spirits and help people feel a sense of control.
“Maybe you volunteer for passing out water or snacks if that’s acceptable; maybe you help clean some of the debris,” she said. “That actually will help you feel better in these extreme times of stress and distress.”
Gurwitch said college students might also be distressed by misinformation on social media about Helene. She encouraged parents to check in on students to help separate fact from fiction.
How to help colleges impacted by Helene
- Western Carolina University student emergency fund
- UNC Asheville disaster relief fund
- Appalachian State University disaster relief fund
- North Carolina community college disaster relief fund
‘It just feels like a dream’
Parker Sharkey, 19, was alone in his Boone townhouse the morning the storm hit when he noticed water quickly seeping onto the ground floor.
“It just felt so surreal,” said Sharkey, a sophomore at Appalachian State. “I was just watching it happen, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I was throwing down towels trying to block the living room from getting filled up, but nothing was working. It was so scary.”
In 10 minutes, the downstairs was covered in an inch of water, he said. It took one to two hours for the flooding to slow. His living and dining room furniture were ruined. The Federal Emergency Management Agency condemned his home. Sharkey and his roommate have been sleeping in hotels or on friends’ couches until they find a more permanent place to stay.
“I really still haven’t processed it,” Sharkey said. “It just feels like a dream, honestly. I kept telling my roommate, ‘We’ll wake up from this eventually.’”
McClarty, the junior at Appalachian State, is staying with her parents in Chapel Hill while her apartment is repaired.
“It’s still kind of hard to process,” McClarty said. “I have my own room and I have the rental car that I’m able to drive, and I was able to buy some more clothes and stuff, so it doesn’t feel super real.”
Find student-specific mental health resources
All UNC System schools are offering mental health services to any displaced students.
UNC Asheville’s counseling center is closed, but students can reach its mental health staff by emailing immune@unca.edu between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays.
Appalachian State University is offering drop-in counseling consultations on Zoom during select weekday hours. Psychiatry services are available under modified hours at the student health center.
At Western Carolina University, make a counseling appointment by calling 828-227-7469 during normal business hours.
The free 24/7 Disaster Distress Helpline is available to anyone, not just students. Call or text 800-985-5990 (Use videophone for ASL).
Read our detailed list of mental health resources in North Carolina.
Affected by Helene or wanting to help people who were? NC Health News has compiled a list of resources.
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