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There’s more going on with Taylor Frankie Paul than the personal, professional, and legal upheaval.
The controversial The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star has recently opened up about her mental health.
In the past, she has described symptoms — like panic attacks and dissociation.
Now, she’s sharing her diagnosis. Under the circumstances, it makes a lot of sense.
She’s had at least part of her diagnosis for about two years
On Sunday, April 19, Taylor took to her Instagram Story to divulge her diagnosis.
“I was diagnosed with PTSD about two years ago,” the The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star revealed.
“Which,” she continued, “I assume is now C-PTSD.”
Taylor added: “By more than one therapist,” she clarified, “for all those that assumed diagnoses.”
(It’s possible that she’s specifically trying to head off people who might accuse her of self-diagnosis, or those who might simply dispute the diagnosis offered from one therapist.)
PTSD is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This anxiety disorder can impact anyone from rescue workers to soldiers, but is perhaps more common to people who experience violence and other trauma in a civilian capacity.
The “C” in C-PTSD stands for “complex.” However, some remember the diagnosis’ meaning by thinking of it as “chronic.”
C-PTSD stems from repeated exposure to the same or similar trauma — particularly when it seems inescapable.
Someone who survives a mass shooting might develop PTSD. Someone who endures years of abuse from a parent or a partner might develop C-PTSD.
Both are the result of coping mechanisms that have evolved to help people survive. But C-PTSD means that trauma has had so much time to rewire how you think and what you expect from the world that it’s, well, pretty complex to treat when you’re no longer in danger.
A major sign has been dissociation
Taylor also shared a clip of clinical psychologist Dr. Vincent Barbieri discussing a tell-tale symptom of C-PTSD: dissociation.
Sometimes misused, dissociation refers to a mental and emotional disconnection from one’s physical surroundings.
This isn’t daydreaming, even if descriptions can be similar. It’s a detachment that people learn, usually subconsciously, in order to cope with trauma.
Barbieri refers to how dissociation is “one of the most characteristic” signs of C-PTSD, even if it is also a symptom of other conditions.
“For anyone that’s dissociated before,” he explains, “it’s this very real experience of, you could be staring at someone and be completely vacant in your eyes because you are not there at all.”
@taylorfrankiepaul If you know me, you know I’m never in the room with us. #secretlivesofmormonwives #dissociation #anxious ♬ The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. 9.6 on Hulu. – secretlivesonhulu
Taylor also shared throwback clips of her own social media posts.
These were TikTok videos and more in which she had displayed what she now recognizes as clear symptoms of C-PTSD.
Dissociation is not always observable externally. Sometimes, even the individual doing it doesn’t notice, or isn’t aware that there’s a term for this.
In a 2025 video, Taylor admitted that she’d spent “a couple minutes” absentmindedly trying to enter her hotel room using her car keys.
Trying it once is an absentminded goof-up. Trying for a prolonged period means that her thoughts had retreated, detached from her activities and surroundings.
Notably, she didn’t point the finger (but perhaps she didn’t feel that she had to)
Despite recent photos of Taylor’s injuries — bruising on her forehead, neck, and arms — which allegedly came from ex Dakota Mortensen, she does not specify the cause of her C-PTSD.
And, truth be told, this diagnosis does not always have one singular cause.
Trauma sometimes leads people into dangerous cycles. Certain types of traumatic experiences can steer people’s lives into, unfortunately, even more danger. Cult survivors might escape only to end up in a toxic marriage, someone abused by a parent could end up with an abusive partner.
We hope that Taylor is getting treatment. Because some of her behavior has not been acceptable, no matter her diagnosis.
Sometimes, the key to correcting your own actions is to understand what has caused them. You can’t really fix certain things without understanding what’s going on.
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