Jax Taylor is pressing pause on his social media life—and he’s doing it for a very real reason. The Vanderpump Rules alum just announced that he’s stepping away from the apps to focus on something more important: his mental health and recovery.
In a heartfelt message posted to his Instagram Stories, Taylor let fans know, “I’ve made the decision to stay off social media for the next while to prioritize my mental health and recovery. My team will be running it for the time being.”
He got even more personal during a recent episode of his podcast, In the Mind of Jax Taylor, where he explained just how overwhelming social media can be for him. “My brain is so fragile, and if I see certain things, they might trigger me,” he said. “Something might hit a chord, and I don’t think I’m strong enough to read certain things.”
Taylor admitted that while staying informed matters, he tends to shut out the noise and live in his own bubble. “The phone has become a problem. Do I need to be on social media? No, I don’t,” he said plainly.
This decision isn’t coming out of nowhere. Taylor recently checked himself into a treatment facility to address ongoing mental health struggles. His journey has been anything but private, with many of the raw moments airing on Bravo’s new series, The Valley.
In one emotional scene, Taylor opened up about his constant anger and the toll it has taken on his life. “I’m so tired of anger. I’m so tired of yelling,” he said, his voice heavy with regret. He also took ownership of the pain he caused in his marriage to Brittany Cartwright. “I also pushed her away. I pushed her away and I didn’t even f—— see it. I didn’t even realize what I was doing. I’ve gotten away with it for so long that I found this to be acceptable behavior and it’s obviously not.”
Cartwright, meanwhile, hasn’t been shy about her concerns regarding Taylor’s progress. In one scene, she said, “I was always hopeful that being in the facility would make some kind of change or open his eyes just a little bit to do something better. But based on his behavior the whole time he’s been in there, I am so worried that he hasn’t learned a damn thing.”
Taylor has also been candid about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and how he used to rely on drugs and alcohol to cope. On his podcast, he reflected on those darker times, saying, “It was really, really bad, man.”
He added, “My ego got in the way of me… Drugs and alcohol were a problem, but they weren’t the problem. I used drugs and alcohol to mask all my problems. Validation, insecurity, ego, manipulation, narcissism, all these things that people told me, anger issues… my family issues.”
Now, Taylor seems to be working on getting real with himself—and stepping away from social media might just be the first major move in the right direction.