“I was never in the same institution twice. One was like the best Betty Ford Clinic – all tempura fish and espressos and people walking around with floaty scarves. And then there was the other extreme, with padded walls and barbed-wire fences.”

In her 20s, Taimi Allan is told she faces a life of institutionalisation and crippling psychiatric drugs. She’s not so sure about that.

* Content warning: Discussion of suicide.

* If you want to talk to a trained counsellor, call or text for free to 1737.

* www.stuff.co.nz/outofmymind

* Taimi is CEO of mental health charity Changing Minds. Learn more at changingminds.org.nz 9biu9iz9

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