Summer is almost here and for some of you the thought of putting on a pair of bathers is enough to bring you out in a cold sweat. Lindsay Kite from Beauty Redefined tackled the issue of body image disruption in her recent TED Talk. Body image disruption can be sparked by a painful experience that magnifies body shame, such as trying on bathers. Women and girls respond to this by taking one of three paths:

• harmful coping mechanisms such as self-harming, eating disorders or drugs and alcohol
• hiding/fixing - e.g. avoiding social gatherings that involve swimming or trying to fix your body with extreme diets etc.
• developing body image resilience by recognising that your body is an instrument, not an ornament.