Mental Health From the Inside: Jamaican Comedian Julie Mango shares her journey

March 28, 2023 –Jamaican American comedian Julie Mango, who currently lives and creates her famous comedic sketches from her home in Kansas City, Missouri, shares her mental health journey and advice for anyone suffering and those who love them.

It is funny that the world would have come to know me by my nickname, affectionately given to me by my dad Basil Bodley; that name being “Julie Mango”. 

I hid behind the name Julie Mango during my “meteoric rise to social media stardom” as people would put it, because the name represented the best parts of the real me: Juliet Angelique Bodley. 

I was ashamed of my name Juliet Bodley, because I associated it with years of mental health struggles, multiple suicide attempts (three worth noting), consistent self-mutilation, and struggles with my faith as a Christian. 

I associated the name “Juliet” with an unhappy, yet successful, engineer trapped in a body that she hates, but exuded dexterity in putting on a face of glee; pretending that she has everything under control.