Ep 12. Mind Over Mania

Teen Mania is a Christian ministry based in Garden Valley, Texas, whose mission statement is "to provoke a young generation to passionately pursue Jesus Christ and to take His life-giving message to the ends of the earth!" According to the Evangelical Council for Financial Authority, Teen Mania's estimated revenue for 2010 was over $18,209,81. Raven joined Teen Mania after high school for a year-long internship program called The Honor Academy, which Teen Mania proudly states has more than 8,000 graduates. Most "interns" work full-time in call centers, soliciting new recruits for future Teen Mania events and programs. It was during her time with The Honor Academy that Raven was introduced to ESOAL, the "emotionally stretching opportunity of a lifetime." ESOAL includes activities like "rolling the hill", where interns eat vomit-inducing foods before repeatedly rolling down a hill. Raven says ESOAL was "the beginning of the end." Ten months into her internship, Raven's mother came to see her at a nearby Teen Mania Tour event. As Raven describes it, "This was the first time that she had seen me in a couple months. She just realized that there was something really wrong. By that time I believe my body really began to shut down, and she decided to take me to the doctor. And the doctor that I saw actually spent a huge amount of time with me and she just asked me if I wanted to go back. And I said, 'I don't want to go back. I wouldn't have survived if I had stayed." This hour follows Raven and several other former Teen Mania interns who sought out therapy to recover from the mind control they experienced during their time with the Teen Mania.