FORT VALLEY, Ga. — After a highly-publicized three-week trial, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020.
Mental health professionals say these past few weeks can have an emotional toll on people in the Black community.
Both Jayleen Moss and Uche Nwakor said they felt a moment of relief when they found out Derek Chauvin's verdict was guilty on all counts. Then the feeling passed.
“This one thing has been done, but what about all these other people who are dying to police brutality?” said Nwakor.
Moss said the trial brought up anxiety for him.
“Seeing the videos over again, it brought back, ‘Wow! I'm a Black man, too! This could happen to me," he said.
Nwakor said her social media has been filled with triggering posts.
“You don't even get to get up, have breakfast. You wake up and see some traumatizing stuff on the timeline," she said.
Roddrick Chatmon, an associate professor of psychology with Fort Valley State University, said these feelings of anxiety are going to be common with a social issue like this.
“It can really take a lot out of person, physically, mentally, and spiritually,” said Chatmon.
He said the George Floyd video could cause trauma for people of color, despite not going through the experience themselves.
“So that anxiety associated with that could very well have the same lasting effects as PTSD for a lot of individuals," said Chatmon.
Moss and Nwakor said there's a stigma around therapy in the Black community, and it's why they're majoring in psychology to help people in situations like these.
“It's OK to talk to people. We're all human, we all have problems that we have to deal with,” said Nwakor.
Dr. Chatmon said if you or someone you know is dealing with extreme anxiety, he suggests you seek professional mental help.