Carefully curating her social media feed and managing which magazines she chooses to inform herself with has gone a long way to help Brie Read make peace with her body.

The founder of online hosiery brand Snag has struggled with negative thoughts and feelings about her body image since she was a child, so much so that she spent a decade refusing to have photographs taken and avoiding her reflection.

She said: "Now I probably feel the best I ever have about my body, which isn't saying a huge amount considering I spent ten years of my life without a single photograph of myself and without mirrors in the house and refused to look in any reflective surface."

She recalls "feeling terrible about herself every single day" as she tried to contort her body to fit into the standardised convention of beauty that is immortalised in society's collective psyche.

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Brie, from Edinburgh, said: "It was what occupied my headspace 99 per cent of the time and led me to all sorts of crazy things from ridiculous diets to working out seven or eight hours a day. I was convinced if I was thinner I would be a better person. I would be more loveable and I would be more accepted."

Brie's self hatred meant that she developed a fear of going outside, and was left scared by groups of children for fear they would mock her. 

She said: "The way I felt about my body meant that for a very long time it affected every single things I did ...  I just felt that the world wasn't for me, that it didn't want me in it."

In a world where fat shaming is endorsed by politicians, medical professionals and anyone with an aversion to subcutaneous fat supplies, it is an act of rebellion to dare to love a body that is seen as not conforming - but that is exactly what Brie is learning to do.

She said: "What I realised is that none of it [diets and trying to 'fix' herself] made any difference because who I was inside didn't really change regardless of who I was on the outside so it was a hard journey accepting who I am. I think that I still struggle with it every day."

But she no longer lets negative body image stop her from living a full and rich life. 

Brie said: "Right now I take pride that I don't conform to anybody's standards ... and that's an amazing place to be."

it's not just women who are being crushed under the weight of unrealistic body expectations, as a new poll carried out by the Mental Health Foundation Scotland has found.

According to their research, one in seven adults have experienced suicidal thoughts or feelings down to concerns over their body image, including more than a quarter of Scottish men. And just over a quarter of people over 55 have said their body image has had a negative impact on their self esteem.

The survey was commissioned to examine the impact of body image issues on mental health ahead of Mental Health Awareness Week, which kicks off today.

Mohammed Razaq has been challenged by the changes age has brought to his body. 

He said: "I’ve always found it really important to stay healthy and fit, and this has continued as I’ve got older. As a man now in his 60s, I have seen things change over the years, and keeping my tummy down is now the biggest issue for me."

Fielding other people's perceptions of him participating in the sports he loves has gotten him down in the past.

The Herald: Mohammed has struggled with his body as he's agedMohammed has struggled with his body as he's aged

Mohammed, from Glasgow, said: "I’ve always loved football from a really young age.  I still play 5-a-side and when I come onto the pitch, I can see them saying 'What? Why is a guy his age coming onto the pitch?'."

But he is smashing stereotypes by continuing to do what he loves.

He said: "But then at the end of the game, they often come over to me and say 'Well done, you were amazing' and it’s great to able to show them that my body and I can still be part of it."

Dealing with the ageing process has been about more than just his outward appearance for Mohammed: "It’s not just how you look, but those small almost invisible changes that your body starts to make as you get older that can have an impact and make you feel really low."   

As an Asian man, there is another layer of awareness around how he looks.

He said: "Being a man of ethnicity has an impact as well, on how you feel about yourself and also how society and people within your culture expect you to look and behave. 

"The first thing everyone sees and has ever seen is the colour of my skin and I’ve always been aware that I’m different than the majority of people around me.

"There’s a huge pressure to be and act in a certain way to ensure I am ‘representing’ others within my culture in a positive way, and this can lead to a huge amount of stress and anxiety."

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Julie Cameron, head of programmes at Mental Health Foundation Scotland said: "Our poll has uncovered that millions of adults across Scotland are struggling with concerns about their body image. For some people this is potentially very severe with large numbers of people saying they have self-harmed or had suicidal thoughts and feelings.

"Women, and particularly young women, are showing the highest rates of distress. Significant numbers have felt feelings of disgust and shame or changed their behaviour to avoid situations that make them reflect negatively about their bodies.

"But body image issues can affect anyone and at any stage in life. Our poll suggests that a worrying proportion of men have felt anxious or depressed about their bodies. Many people identified social media as an important factor causing them to worry about their body image and the majority of respondents felt the Government needed to take more action."