Hello! My name is Ashley Jaye and I’m a social media marketer, actress, and mental health advocate with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
I’ve created three self-written solo performances that hilariously and honestly highlight the complex racial, sexual, cultural, and religious intersections of mental illness and chronic suicidality for myself as a Black woman.
I’ve performed for the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), at The Marsh theaters in Berkeley and San Francisco, and at the Stage Werx Theater in San Francisco with the “You Don’t Know Me” group, produced by Toni Weingarten. I’ve has also worked with other mental health nonprofits such as BEAM and Depressed While Black, which focus on the mental health of Black people, bringing awareness to the harsh conditions in inpatient hospitals.
In February 2020, I created a subreddit on Reddit called r/BlackMentalHealth: an online forum for Black people seeking community, support, and resources for their mental health. I wanted to create a safe space for Black folks to semi-anonymously talk about their mental health and to provide resources. The group has expanded to Discord.
Also in 2020, I was the host of a live stream show called Suicide Prevention Social Media (SPSM). I’ve interviewed diverse folks with lived experience with chronic suicidality and mental illness as well as mental health professionals. As a person who lives with chronic suicidality, I believe that suicide prevention efforts need to include the voices of suicide attempt survivors.
I hope that her solo performances and mental health advocacy bring awareness and understanding to the debilitating illness of BPD. I also hope that my story helps other Black people with mental illness feel less alone in their struggle.