SAUNDERS Raven

General
MENTAL HEALTH
In 2017 she experienced a loss of form and a number of injury problems. She was also studying at the University of Mississippi in the United States of America, and money was tight. Her issues came to a head in January 2018 when she considered making an attempt to end her life. She contacted a therapist she knew from college and checked into a mental health facility, where she was diagnosed with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress syndrome. Within a month she decided to leave university, and she did not compete for much of 2018 and 2019. "I felt like I was in over my head. I was probably about 10 or 15 minutes from trying to end my life. I wanted to let somebody know what was going on, so I texted [the therapist] that I was afraid and that I didn't know what I was going to do to myself. As I was going through it, I didn't want to feel like a bother to the people that I love. You know people are going through their own things, and you feel like a burden. You don't want to put your things on other people. I tried to get through it and handle it on my own, and you think it's not that bad until it is that bad." (postandcourier.com, 20 Jan 2020)

RETURN TO ATHLETICS
After leaving college she relocated to San Diego, CA, United States of America. She began working on her diet and mental health with support from family and coaches, and trains at the Olympic Training Center of Chula Vista and at San Diego State. "I do a lot of meditation and things like that. And being out here at the training center, I'm around really positive people. We've got Olympians, gold medallists and athletes like that. And with my closest friends, I'm trying to be more vocal about what I'm going through, asking them to check up on me and just trying to be more open about what I'm struggling with." (postandcourier.com, 20 Jan 2020)