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(TNSRes)-- Leiden University issued the following news:
A glowing first-time mother-to-be with an impressive CV for someone of her age, newsreader Amber Brantsen would seem to lead a charmed life. 'But I began to resent that image,' says the Leiden Public Administration alumna. This led her to write the impressive and personal Uit Beeld (Out of the Picture). For what few people know is that for a long time Amber battled a severe eating disorder.
Your book shows a very different Amber from the one that the general public has seen. Was it daunting to tell your story?
'Definitely. For a long time I thought it was so long ago that it was no longer relevant. But I also thought: if I don't talk about it, I'll reinforce the taboo around eating disorders. And that would be wrong. Ultimately I realised that something stood to be gained from starting the conversation at all, even if it was only with one reader.'
'If I don't talk about it, I'll reinforce the taboo around eating disorders.'
Can you tell us a bit about your story?
'When I started my degree in Public Administration in Leiden, I had a number of really difficult years behind me. My first degree, Media and Culture in Amsterdam, wasn't what I was hoping it would be. The programme, living away from home, the other students... nothing was as I had expected and I soon lost my way. I was lonely and felt like a failure. My biggest mistake? Not asking for help. That was how my eating disorder started, a disorder that I was even hospitalised for at one point. But even they couldn't get me back on the right track. In the depths of my illness, I could no longer think clearly. The only thing I did know was that I wanted to be "normal" again. I'd always enjoyed learning and studying, but I didn't have the energy anymore.'
Amber as a student in Leiden.
What was the turning point for you?
'The breakthrough came when I took things into my own hands,...