Michelle Obama (58) has always "hated" her appearance. The former First Lady of the USA admits this in her new book "The Light We Carry". She was dissatisfied with her appearance, "all the time, and no matter what."

Michelle Obama has always suffered above all from her height of 1.80 meters. At school she was at the bottom of the social hierarchy. "It left me with a small wound, a tiny core of self-loathing that kept me from using my strengths," she writes in her new work, according to The Guardian.

The book is the follow-up to her bestseller "Becoming" from 2018. The book, which was published worldwide today, is entitled "The Light in Us: Finding Support in Uncertain Times". The publisher describes the volume as a "toolbox for a courageous life".

In the book, Michelle Obama describes life alongside a companion she didn't choose: The Anxious Mind. "I've lived with my anxious mind for 58 years now," she writes. "It makes me restless. It likes to see me weak."

Even today, the wife of ex-President Barack Obama (61) has days when she doesn't want to look in the mirror. In which she immediately wants to turn off the light in the bathroom again.

Michelle Obama also says that she suffered from mild depression during the corona pandemic. "It was becoming increasingly difficult for me to access my own hope or to feel that I could actually make a difference," she writes. "I felt myself teetering on the edge of cynicism - tempted to conclude that I was helpless, that I was surrendering to the idea that there was nothing that could be done about the epic problems and massive worries of the day. "