Between them, and with help from other members of the British Canoeing support team, Woods was referred to the Priory clinic in London for treatment.
Although it did not produce instant results, Woods eventually began to understand why she was struggling and developed techniques to improve her mental health.
“I grew up being told ‘the Woods family is so strong’ and that I can’t show any weakness, but I learnt that sharing and talking through problems is so important,” she says.
“They also gave me skills, so whenever I was close to self-harming I’d always have a hair band on my wrist and just flick it, to have a distraction almost.”
Woods received weekly therapy from early 2016 until the summer of 2018 and has not experienced any relapses in the time since.
That is something she says she feels proud of, particularly given the challenges lockdown and a 12-month delay to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have presented.
“I’d learnt the importance of keeping my mind occupied and my coaches were great with creating sessions for me at home as well as having regular online meetings,” says Woods.
“It’s difficult as we’d have found out this month whether I’d have achieved my Olympic goals, but I’ve come a long way and I know that with another year I’ll be even stronger.”
