The South Island man who chopped off his finger, cooked it and ate part of it hopes his story will encourage mentally ill people to seek professional help.
The man, who asked not to be named, spoke to The New Zealand Herald after reading a story about his case of "self-cannibalism" in the paper last month based on a psychiatric journal report.
Mr X, as he was known in the journal article, said he wanted to speak out to encourage people who are mentally unwell to ask for help.
"Hopefully someone with a mild case of depression or something reads it and then thinks, 'Jeez, I don't want to get that bad', and then gets help.
"They stabilise after a wee while and they lead a reasonable life - which unfortunately I haven't been able to do."
Mr X, who described himself as a "professional lunatic", cut off the little finger of his left hand in 2009, cooked it in a pan with vegetables and ate its flesh.
He now regrets cutting off his finger, saying it "was ultimately a very stupid idea".
The report said he had low moods, sometimes thought of suicide and had a "vulnerable personality structure".
He had been physically assaulted by two men and later fantasised about killing and eating them.
He was moderately depressed when he ate his finger and not taking all his medication, but was not psychotic and had not consumed drugs or alcohol, the journal report said.
Mr X said he did experience psychosis, but it ended when he was assessed in hospital.
He disliked being in a psychiatric hospital, but believed he should be admitted to one long-term.
NZPA