Simone Biles Explains How She's Coping up with Depression Following Horrifying Sexual Abuse

Mar 29, 2019

11:33 A.M.

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles reveals how she coped up with depression after her traumatic sexual assault experience with former USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.

22-year-old Biles spoke about her coping mechanism with Priyanka Chopra Jonas in her new YouTube series, "If I Could Tell You Just One Thing." In the series, the "Quantico" star asked her: "When did you know when you were abused by so young?"

“There was a time I asked my friend and I called her and I asked for the definition of 'sexual abused' because some of my other friends had it worse than me and they’re like, ‘No, if he did this then you’ve been sexually abused.’”

For quite a while, the gymnast tried to "deny" that she was sexually abused and "buried it." She was afraid she'd be labeled as "Simone the sexual abuse survivor" instead of "Simone the gymnast," something that she's worked her entire life for.

At the time, she said that she was "very depressed," barely leaving her room.

"I was sleeping all the time." She told her lawyer that she'd choose to sleep because "it's the closest thing to death."

Biles also shared that the first person she ever shared the abuse with was her mother after one of her friends came forward and said that Nassar had abused her.

“It wasn’t easy but I feel like I’m a stronger woman today and I feel like telling my story has helped younger girls.”

LARRY NASSAR ATTACKED IN PRISON

The official doctor for the Michigan State University and Team USA gymnastics was charged with 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting more than 150 women and girls.

The 54-year-old was reportedly attacked in prison by another inmate and was injured. His attorney, Jacqueline McCann, revealed that he was attacked just hours after being released to the general population in the United States Penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona.

While he tries to finish his sentence in prison, his victims continue to try and cope with the effects of his actions, seeking therapy and trying to move on from the traumatic experience.

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