She's cut off from her family. She has no money. She lives in a dorm. She has little to no privacy and med students wake her up at all hours to take care of stupid bullshit. She's growing out her hair because she can't afford to get regular haircuts anymore. That's the only reason, okay? She has a depression beard. She's failing as a teacher or no wait it's not her, it's Lucy who's failing as a student. She's hit rock bottom. After the beard glue incident, she takes it as a sign. Fuck it. Fuck this. She makes an appointment and doesn't cancel it for once. Lucy being understanding and supportive is so annoying, but it goes a long way toward Carter putting an effort into making their relationship less antagonistic.

Carter figured out Benton was stealth transmasc early on. After many failed clumsy attempts, she confided in him. Benton did encourage her, but he knows it takes time to go from admitting who you are to yourself to self-actualizing.