'I'm starting to share my voice with the world'

Zoe Cawley writes and performs poetry to make people feel less alone

Zoe Cawley was 11 years old when she first started to struggle with her mental health.

A few years ago, the now 20-year-old from Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire decided to start writing poetry to process her feelings.

More than one million people watched her recent video on TikTok, where she performed a poem addressed to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, after he announced plans to tackle what he called a "sick note culture".

Here in her own words she describes how she found the courage to share her voice with the world.

'It feels like I have a bully living with me'

I first started to struggle with my mental health when I was 11 years old and two years later I was hospitalised.

It wasn't until I was 18 that I was diagnosed with anorexia and I started seeing a personality disorder team.

Every day is a battle. Sometimes it feels like I have a bit of a bully who lives with me and it can be really overwhelming, I feel things very intensely and it's scary.

Anorexia wants you to be the sickest version of yourself and it is a cruel disease. The goal posts shift more and more and nothing is ever enough.

The personality disorder makes you feel unlovable, you take other people's emotions on and perceive things to be your fault and it can make you feel, quite frankly, like you don’t want to be here anymore, which is the hardest part.

• If you need support with mental health, details are available at BBC Action Line.

'The world needs you in it'

Zoe goes into schools to deliver wellbeing workshops

In one of my hospital admissions, my doctor sat down and said to me: "The world needs you in it. You have a voice, a powerful voice and everyone needs to hear it."

I did not believe it at the time, but now I am starting to share my voice with the world.

It started off with just one poem and then as time went on I started to write light-hearted personal poems for the nurses and health care assistants and some patients on the ward just to make them smile and this helped me on bad days.

I then started to write more about the things that were going on and the pain I was experiencing inside.

I am just writing from the heart. I just write from my past, also my present and I just think about other people who struggle too.

'Rishi Sunak's speech was heartbreaking'

The video, which was posted on TikTok, was seen by more than one million people

When I heard Rishi Sunak's speech on the "sick note culture" I felt like he was invalidating those who do suffer with their mental health and putting everyone in the same boat.

I feel like he did not have any empathy in what he was saying at all and for a leader of this country it is very disappointing and heartbreaking.

He wants to support us to be able to work but he's not giving us the support to help our mental health.

With my poem I wasn’t directing it necessarily at the benefits side it was more about the support.

And I just feel like there's so much more that can be done, and so much more that he can do and I just don’t believe he’s doing it.

I wasn’t expecting the video to get so many views at all, I wasn’t expecting that reaction.

'Writing will always be a big part of my life'

I volunteer and go into schools doing sessions around the five ways to wellbeing, which is recommended by the NHS. This can involve making sensory toys and providing a safe space.

You just see the lack of support even in schools. It is about funding but it is also just people being willing to learn and understand, even if they do not go through it themselves.

Poetry gives me the opportunity to be the voice for not only myself but also others.

Over time my words and poetry subconsciously provided support and comfort to my inner child and teenage self and as an adult who is trying to navigate life whilst suffering with mental illness.

I know there are so many people out there having the same thoughts that I have and it is so easy to feel alone. That is why I do what I do, because you are not alone and you are not the only one having those thoughts and not all thoughts are facts. That can be hard to remember.

I love to help people and I love writing so I hope to have a career in making a difference to people's lives.

What does the mental health charity Mind think?

The mental health charity Mind watched the poem on social media, and responded, saying: "Goosebumps, we see and hear you Zoe and we'll fight as hard as we can for you and the millions of others."

Gemma Byrne, policy and campaign manager for Mind said the charity was "deeply disappointed" with the prime minister's speech.

"The rhetoric we’ve heard from politicians in recent weeks is harmful, inaccurate and contrary to the reality for people like Zoe and thousands of others up and down the country.

"The truth is that mental health services are at breaking point following years of under investment with many people getting increasingly unwell while they wait to receive support."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We want to ensure everyone gets the mental health support they need. That’s why we’ve increased spending by more than £4.7bn in cash terms since 2018/19. We are also increasing the coverage of mental health support teams in schools to reach at least 50% of pupils in England by March 2025."

As told to Amelia Reynolds and Neve Gordon-Farleigh