The Fannie Mae Crumsey Foundation is placing a major focus on mental health awareness this month, highlighting the growing emotional strain a lot of people are facing.
Juanita Toney of the Fannie Mae Crumsey Foundation says, “With everything going on now, the political crisis, the social crisis, the financial crisis, and everyone is just really trying to survive, not really live, not really uplift, not really help.”
Toney, a professional licensed counselor, says people are overwhelmed and uncertain about the future and when you don’t take care of your mental health, it can also affect your physical health.
“Because when you’re just surviving, your emotions are hijacked, as they, so therefore you have higher risk for high blood pressure, cardiovascular. So, some of the things that may be overlooked in mental health are depression, anxiety, any mood disorder, Toney said.”
The foundation was created in honor of Fannie Mae Crumsey, her courageous grandmother, whose story helped inspire the historic civil rights case portrayed in “How to Sue the Klan.”
“They didn’t give them mental health, right? They didn’t recognize that they were even individuals who deserve equal justice or equality.”
During her lifetime, Toney says those like her grandmother were expected to “just be strong” while carrying unimaginable pain.
Juanita Toney, Fannie Mae Crumsey Foundation says “I was there in the home, and so some of the symptoms she has [are] PTSD.”
Some symptoms to look out for include:
“We’re trying to break the stigma by bringing awareness and educating on what does mental health entails and how to develop practical strategies to help lower stigma and to help promote people being seeking help.”