Abstract
This thesis explores, through my auto-ethnography, how low-income womxn of color experience mental illness, which I would rather refer to as mental variances categorized as illnesses by society, and the navigation of the institutions surrounding it. It will also challenge and decolonize current modes of knowledge production, while filling the void of voice and candor that exists in current research regarding mental conditions. I am exposing myself and producing this research to give a perspective from the inside out: a patient’s perspective.