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Tay Dome Lautner Says God’s Given Her a Platform to Help Others

Tay Dome Lautner Says God’s Given Her a Platform to Help Others

Movieguide® Contributor

The mental health epidemic in the U.S. has affected more than 1 in 5 adults and more than 1 in 3 young adults who live with some form of mental illness as reported in a recent Surgeon General Advisory.  

This crisis has brought the issue to the forefront for many people especially those personally affected by it and one of those people is mental health blogger Tay Dome Lautner, wife of the TWILIGHT saga star Taylor Lautner.

“I lost a good friend. He had bipolar he took his life like five years ago, a lot of my family members have struggled with addiction and I’ve always just kind of been surrounded by it but never really experienced on my own,” Lautner told Sadie Robertson Huff on her podcast Whoa That’s Good.  

Lautner opened up about her own struggles with anxiety and even PTSD after her time as a new nurse during the COVID pandemic. Many health care workers were overwhelmed due to the crisis that left hospitals short staffed. 

“So here I am…taking care of five patients the first time on my own like four would have been plenty,” Lautner recalled.  “And I remember just like crying that first night because when you go into one room, you got to put the gown on. You have your one mask on, you have to put another mask over you, have to put your goggles, on the shield on, booties on, double glove, and then you go in, and then you go out, and then you take it off, and then you re-put it all back on to go into the next room.”    

The podcaster realized how much that season in her life affected her when she would have lapses in her memory. For example, the time when her husband asked if she wanted to go to a particular restaurant that they had been to multiple times before. 

 “Taylor had texted me and he was like, ‘Hey, do you want to go to this restaurant for dinner?’  And I’m looking at the name. And I’m like, I know I’ve been here I can’t remember where it is, who I’ve been with … I could literally remember going … I know I’ve been there, but I can’t remember going there,” Lautner recalled. 

She said that although her health has improved, she still struggles with the effect  of PTSD which she admits can be discouraging, but learned to “turn it into motivation.” 

Eventually she left the hospital she was working at, but knew she still wanted to do something that helped people, so she started her own website Lemons by Tay that tackles mental health issues with various guests, including husband Taylor. 

“I definitely feel like God speaks to me when I sleep and I wake up and I have all these ideas. Well, that’s how I started my nonprofit,” the newlywed said. 

“I love that God speaks to you in the night and you wake up and just go with it. And that’s what a lot of life is when you see people starting these crazy things,” Huff told Lautner. “A lot of it is just God just spurring their heart to do it, and their willingness to say yes.”  

“God’s giving me this platform on social media like how can I use it to help people because the world is just … crumbling. People are dealing with things I’ve never dealt with before, myself being one of them,” Lautner said. 

The influencer also shared some advice when faced with moments of anxiety on Robertson’s podcast. 

“I just think it’s so important that we find an outlet whether it be … talking with someone, whether it be walking, reading a book, going to get a facial, going to get a massage…something that we’re able to just kind of like take a moment …and not turn our brain off but … think through things,” she said. 

In a recent CBN article, psychiatrist Daniel Amen, in regards to the health crisis, also shared the importance of connection with other people, particularly in a faith setting: 

“I actually believe we’re on the beginning of a tidal wave of brain and mental health problems in young people, and it’s because we’re more disconnected than ever before, disconnected from our own families because when people are together their faces are buried in their gadgets,” Dr. Amen told CBN News.

Dr. Amen said loneliness was a serious problem in America before the pandemic, but the COVID-19-related shut-downs made loneliness “exponentially worse.” He points out that while the pandemic is over, many people continue to remain isolated from those with whom they interacted before the pandemic. Therefore, he recommends minimizing screen time while maximizing in-person interactions.

“So it’s back to church,” he said. “Go back to church. Get involved. Get involved with groups. We have to go back. And really, no better place to solve it than the church.”


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