Millie Haywood, founder of the Mentally Unstitched clothing brand, speaks with CBS News at her home in England. CBS News

Millie Haywood knows what it's like to struggle.

The 22-year-old has faced ongoing health challenges, both physical and mental. She was diagnosed with anorexia at the age of 13 and spent years in the hospital. She still relies on a feeding tube.

"I used to absolutely love running, it was my passion. It was my purpose in life," Haywood told CBS News from her home in Chalford, southern England. "I felt like I had no purpose, because I could no longer run and I just didn't have anything to live for, other than my family."

That sense of feeling out of place lasted years.

"I was frustrated about feeling different and was constantly told that I wasn't. People couldn't understand me. I just didn't know who I was anymore. I had no identity," she told CBS News.

Trying to enter the workforce in her late teens left her feeling even more discouraged.

"I went for quite a few interviews, and I was just immediately turned down ... I did feel quite discriminated because I have a feeding tube. It just really knocked my confidence because it just made me feel like, well, what's wrong with me?" she recalled. "But at the same time, it lit this fire in me, to create something that I'm proud of."

The turning point for Haywood came when she was diagnosed with autism at the age of 21.

"It just changed my life, because I started to understand myself and accept myself and it was like, I'd finally found my voice," she said.

The clarity helped to ignite a new sense of purpose for Haywood — drawing inspiration from the giant plushies she used to squeeze on her darkest days.

"I was like, to my mum, 'I wish this was in a hoodie. I wish this feeling, that hug that you get, could be in a hoodie, so I could just go out and feel that comfort.' I just said to her, 'I'm gonna create that. I'm gonna design that.'"

From her home studio, Haywood launched Mentally Unstitched, an online embroidery business through which she offers a line of soft, sensory-friendly hoodies designed to feel like the "comfort hugs" that she used to depend on.

"It just feels like a hug in a hoodie," Millie explained as she showed off her soft sweatshirts — each one of which weighs in at two pounds. The designs feature oversized hoods to fit over headphones, weighted fabric to ease anxiety, and no itchy tags.

The collection celebrates neurodiversity, with hats and other products featuring stitched-in slogans such as "Slay-DHD" and "Rizz Em with the Tism,"

"I really hope I can inspire people with my designs, and with my story that, you know, what's different makes you stronger," Haywood said.

Haywood hopes to eventually create a full clothing line for the neurodivergent community that's both comfortable and stylish.

And the thread of empowerment she sews into every design is laying down her own pattern of recovery.

"Finding Mentally Unstitched has kind of lit that spark back inside of me," Haywood told CBS News.

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