Mind | Integrate Your Intellectual & Emotional Self

Combine your feeling-self with your thinking-self and thrive! People from all walks of life come to NC State to imagine a positive future, develop creative- and critical-thinking skills, and acquire practical experiences to make their dreams and dreamjobs a reality. Clear thinking is essential for thriving in the modern economy. Clear thinking inspires constructive communication and collaborative problem-solving, which most employers value and reward.

Do not underestimate the importance of emotional intelligence in your learning process. Feeling and thinking go hand-in-hand. They’re partners. In fact, some neuroscience researchers like Antonio Damasio, MD, PhD, argue that feelings and emotions are the source of thoughts, reasoning, choices, and actions.

Use this section of the website to tune-in with your emotions (feelings) as you embark on your intellectual journey each semester. Also, develop a relationship with a campus counselor in NC State’s free on-campus Student Assistance Program (SAP). Work with them to learn how to notice, accurately name, and make use of your emotions in constructive ways that will elevate your creative- and critical-thinking skills.

Closeup of a person writing in a notebook

Explore Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to recognize your own emotions and those of others; to understand the qualities of different emotions and name them accurately; to use emotional information to guide your thinking and behavior; and to manage and adjust your emotions (i.e., to bring their intensity down or up) to adapt to new and changing environments.

People with emotional intelligence use their own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, increase social awareness and connectedness, empathize with others, communicate effectively, overcome challenges, defuse conflicts, and achieve their goals. Daniel Goleman, PhD, is an American psychologist and science journalist who helped popularize emotional intelligence with his 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. According to Goleman, there are five key elements to EI:

Self-awareness
Self-regulation
Motivation
Empathy
Social skills

Emotional intelligence (EI) is also an attribute in some of the most effective team leaders, supervisors, and executives in nonprofit, for-profit, government, and faith-based organizations. Discover more about your own EI and elevate your personal leadership style and skills. Talk to a licensed counselor in NC State’s free on-campus Student Assistance Program (SAP).

Connect With Counselors

Write about Emotions

Because many of your NC State courses will focus on helping you develop logical thought processes and problem-solving skills, we encourage you to explore the role of the emotional mind as well. Take the opportunity to research and write about emotions and emotional intelligence whenever you can. Tell your professors and instructors about your interest in this topic. Ask for their guidance and feedback during your research, reading, and writing about it.

Embrace the Growth Mindset

Your success with social relationships and college courses often begins with an internal attitude or disposition—a way of looking at yourself, your experiences, and the world around you, especially other people.

At NC State, we promote the growth mindset among our students. It’s a positive and productive way of feeling and thinking about yourself that helps you gain momentum in your college experience. The growth mindset is based upon research which shows that the human brain has the ability to rewire itself throughout life—from birth through adulthood.

Some students come to college with a fixed mindset. They believe that some things about them will not change. We disagree. If you believe you’re not good at math or English or connecting with other people, we encourage you to change that belief and engage in a new way of thinking. If you believe you’re not good at taking tests or speaking in front of a group, we encourage you to challenge that belief, too. Here are some positive thoughts that will influence your growth mindset and relationships.

I like to try new things.
I can learn to do anything I want.
Challenges help me grow.
My attitude and effort influence my ability to learn new ideas and skills.
Learning is often a process of creating then revising and revising again and again—until I achieve mastery.
Setbacks are not failures: they are opportunities to try again and revise.
I will replace the feeling of failure with the feeling of not-yet: “I have not-yet mastered the skill, but I will.”
Feedback from faculty, peers, and employers is constructive: it helps me gain a new perspective and approach.
Big accomplishments are often achieved through a series of small, incremental successes over time.
I am inspired by my successes and the successes of others.

Ask Your Questions

We encourage you to be curious and ask your questions inside classrooms and outside. This is the heart of the NC State culture. Know what you know. Know what you don’t know. Be honest about it. And ask good questions. This is the foundation of all learning—in school, at work, and in the community for the rest of your life. Here’s a simple technique for navigating your experiences at NC State and in the community:

Be curious about yourself and the world around you, especially other people and their experiences and perspectives
Believe that every life experience is an opportunity to learn and grow
Ask your questions
Stay open to answers and listen without judgement
Ask more clarifying questions if necessary
Compare answers you receive from conversations, from printed and online documents, and from audio podcasts and videos
Make a decision
Speak your truth and take action
Observe and evaluate the results of your decisions and actions
Ask more questions of yourself and others
Revise your decisions and actions if necessary
Remember that setbacks are not failures: they are opportunities to learn, change, and grow

Talk to a Counselor

Making an appointment with and talking to a counselor does not mean you are weak or that there is something wrong with you. In fact, it means the opposite. It means you have the courage, curiosity, and strength to get to know yourself better and more deeply. Embrace the intuitive feelings that may be nudging you to schedule an appointment and do it: step into the unknown to begin, restart, or continue your journey into self-awareness, self-acceptance, self-love, and more compassionate relationships with others.

You don’t need to be in crisis to talk to a counselor or therapist. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how helpful a chat about wellness and mental health can be for your journey to more peaceful, joyful, and vibrant living.

Get Free Counseling

All students who are currently enrolled in for-credit classes at NC State are eligible for the free on-campus Student Assistance Program (SAP), which is administered by licensed counselors and social workers from New Directions Counseling Center in Mansfield, Ohio. All services are confidential, which means SAP staff protect your identity and any information you choose to share about yourself. They do not provide that information to anyone else, not even your family. SAP provides assessment, brief counseling, and referral services for a wide range of concerns. Call now!

Connect With Counseling

Take Action

There may be a waiting list to see a counselor at our on-campus Student Assistance Program (SAP). It’s a popular service. The counselors have many years of experience working with college students of all ages and from all walks of life. Here are a few things you can do while you are waiting for your appointment:

Keep your name on the waiting list to hold your spot
Contact crisis services or a suicide hotline if you are having suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self-harm
Make an appointment with a counselor at a community-based counseling center
Attend a student-operated mental health group like “NAMI on Campus”
Talk to a friend or family member who you feel is safe: tell them about your current struggles
Spend time with a safe person doing something you enjoy (e.g., go for a walk, meet for lunch or dinner, watch a movie, play a video game together)

Academic Needs

If you feel you are in academic crisis, contact an academic liaison (advisor) today in Student Support Services.

Daily Needs

Be sure to take care of your daily physical needs, like sleep, nutrition, exercise, and more.

Join a Wellness Group

You don’t need to be in crisis to talk to fellow students about wellness and mental health. You’ll be surprised how helpful a conversation about it can be for your journey. NC State has student organizations that are dedicated to enhancing wellness and mental health among all students. Consider joining or starting a group to promote social support for thriving during and after your college experience.

NC State has a chapter of NAMI on Campus. This is a college-based program of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), which sponsors student-lead groups on campuses throughout the country. Students work together to raise awareness about mental health, educate the campus community, advocate for services, and support each other through their personal journeys. NAMI on Campus is open to all students, whether they live with a mental health condition, are a family member or friend of someone who has a condition, or have a general interest in mental health. NAMI on Campus aims to address the mental health needs of all students so they have positive, successful, and fun college experiences.

Name Your Feelings

Feelings, thoughts, and self-perceptions are a natural part of the human experience no matter how quiet and calm or intense they may be. That’s why we hesitate to use the words “mental illness” and “mental disorders” on this website. Too often, people in our culture are quick to label naturally occurring feelings and thoughts as symptoms of mental illness or mental disorder. People often use these labels without truly understanding what they mean and what their impact might be upon someone’s self-perception and feelings of self-worth.

Yet, it is helpful to make clear distinctions about levels of intensity for your feelings, thoughts, and self-perceptions: think of them as occurring on a continuum of mild, moderate, or severe. This will help you and your counselor or therapist distinguish what level of help you might need.

Stressed woman laying on the floor surrounded by books

Recognize Mental Illness

Sometimes our feelings, thoughts, and self-perceptions become so severe and persistent that they may disrupt or interfere with our ability to manage daily tasks and social relationships needed to survive and thrive. When this occurs, our wellness and mental health may tip toward illness. Keep in mind that this is not a permanent state of being. It is a condition (or circumstance) that can be identified, worked with, treated, and managed over time. An important first step is to recognize and identify the signs and signifiers (the symptoms) of the condition.

If you would like help understanding your own experiences with symptoms of mental illness and their continuum of intensity (i.e., mild, moderate, severe), we encourage you to make an appointment with a licensed counselor in our free oncampus Student Assistance Program (SAP).

Learn More

Suicidal Thoughts

If you experience thoughts of suicide, know that this is a common experience for many people, especially those who feel a lot of stress or live with difficult circumstances.

We encourage you to talk to a mental health professional or medical professional about the thoughts and not feel ashamed that they are occurring. We also encourage you to schedule an appointment with one of the licensed counselors in our free on-campus Student Assistance Program (SAP)*. These counselors have many years of experience working with college students of all age groups and from all walks of life.

Our campus counselors explain that thoughts of suicide often function as a stress-release valve or an escape hatch from severe and persistent feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, or shame, among others. Campus counselors are trained to be curious with you about suicidal thoughts. They help you discover the feelings behind the thoughts and your insights about strategies for reducing the frequency, intensity, and duration of those thoughts.

Learn More

Prevent Suicide

If you feel that you or someone you know might act upon suicidal thoughts, call 911 immediately. Also, schedule an appointment with a licensed counselor in our free on-campus Student Assistance Program (SAP).

Get Help

Manage Psychosis

Psychosis is a condition that impacts the mind and causes people to see, hear, or believe things that are not considered real by others. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), psychosis is a symptom, not an illness. It can occur as the result of a physical illness, mental illness, addiction to alcohol or other drugs (i.e., substance-induced psychosis), and extreme stress or trauma.

Schizophrenia is one form of psychotic disorder. It involves a psychosis (or psychoses) that usually occurs for the first time in later adolescence or early adulthood. Hallucinations are one form of psychosis. Examples include the following:

Auditory hallucinations: hearing voices that others do not
Tactile hallucinations: perceiving strange physical sensations that are difficult to explain
Visual hallucinations: seeing people, objects, entities, or events that others do not or perceiving unusual distortions in shapes

Warning Signs of a First Episode

Before a first episode of psychosis (FEP) occurs, people may exhibit changes in the way they feel, think, and act. This may last days, weeks, months, or even years. A psychotic experience typically does not start suddenly. Some warning signs of psychosis include the following:

Decline in self-care
Disinterest in personal hygiene
Worrisome drop in school performance (grades) or job performance
Difficulty thinking clearly or concentrating
Suspiciousness, paranoid ideas, or a strong feeling of unease around others
Spending more time alone than usual and withdrawing from social contact with others
Unusual and overly intense new ideas
Difficulty telling reality from fantasy
Confused speech or trouble communicating
Emotional intensity that does not match the circumstances or situation
No emotions at all (flat affect)

Counseling Help

If you would like help understanding your own experiences with psychosis or other symptoms of mental illness, we encourage you to make an appointment with a licensed counselor in our free on-campus Student Assistance Program (SAP).

Crisis Intervention

If someone you know is having a psychotic experience (episode), call 911 as soon as possible.