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Gymnastics superstar Aly Raisman says she still struggles to trust herself due to PTSD from Larry Nassar's sexual abuse

Sep 10, 2020, 00:00 IST
Insider
AP Photo/Gregory Bull
  • Former USA Gymnastics star Aly Raisman opened up about the impact of Larry Nassar's abuse on her mental health in an interview with Today's Hoda Kotb.
  • Raisman said the sexual abuse she endured at the hands of the USA Gymnastics doctor left her "struggling to trust my gut and believing myself when I feel like something is wrong."
  • The 26- year-old said that she's working on "prioritizing my mental health and practicing self-compassion."
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Aly Raisman opened up about the lingering impact of Larry Nassar's sexual abuse on Tuesday.

In an interview with Hoda Kotb on "Today," the three-time gold medalist said the sexual abuse she endured at the hands of the USA Gymnastics team doctor left her "struggling to trust my gut and believing myself when I feel like something is wrong."

"It's hard to put into words how much it's impacted me," Raisman added. "I feel like the abuse kind of took away that trust in myself, which I'm really struggling to get that back."

Aly Raisman speaks on behalf of survivors of sexual assault at the California State Capitol.AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

Nassar was convicted on charges of child pornography and sexual assault of minors after more than 265 women — including Raisman and many of her Olympic team costars — accused him of sexual abuse while working for USA Gymnastics. In January 2018, Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for the abuse, on top of a previous sentence for child pornography.

Raisman said this week that she's "prioritizing my mental health and practicing self-compassion," by going to therapy.

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"I've learned that the best thing to do is to ask for help and communicate with people," she told Kotb. "I don't want people to feel alone, and healing isn't one size fits all."

Aly Raisman competes at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

Now 26 years old and past her days competing on the mat, Raisman has become a champion for other survivors of sexual abuse and an outspoken advocate for mental-health counseling. She's now a spokesperson for Sanvello: a mental wellness and therapy app that she uses and swears by.

"Sanvello is so incredible — and you can find it in the app store — because there are so many things you can do," Raisman said. "They have these check-ins you can do. You can do them daily, weekly, monthly — whatever you want — and [I'm] just making sure I'm staying on top of how I'm feeling so I can continue to take little steps forward."

You can watch the full interview with Raisman, courtesy of NBC's "Today" below:

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