CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Actor Maurice Benard on a mental health mission

San Diego Union-Tribune - 5/24/2020

Given that May is mental awareness month, it is an especially good time to hear from Emmy-winning actor and Temecula resident Maurice Benard. He talks candidly about his bipolar disorder in his new memoir, "Nothing General About It: How Love (And Lithium) Saved Me On and Off General Hospital," which he co-wrote with Susan Black.

"I've been talking about mental health for the last 30 years," said Benard, who portrays Sonny Corinthos on the daytime drama "General Hospital." I just didn't want anybody to go through what I've been through.

"It took me a long time to write a book because I just didn't want to. I didn't know why I should. I thought it was too much work. And then I decided to do it, and Susan Black was the perfect fit because she ended up getting a deal with HarperCollins. Then, we got serious and wrote the book. One reason I love Sue is because she's a film writer — so she gives us that touch."

In "Nothing General About It," Benard reflects on his early life, including his precarious relationship with his father. He describes how mood swings began to surface when he was a teen, how he tried to cope, and how a doctor saved his life. He recounts how he successfully managed a career in show business and stresses the support from his wife and family.

He received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in 2003 and 2019, as well as countless awards for his involvement with mental health organizations. Benard's website, mbstateofmind.com, archives his weekly Instagram videos, which he began last fall.

Q: How old were you when you were first hospitalized and then diagnosed? What was your experience in the hospital and what was the hard part about going forward with your life?

A: I was 21 years old when I got into the mental institution, and then I turned 22 inside. I had my 22nd birthday inside the hospital and it was a nightmare.

Even now when I look back, I can't believe I did it. It was that hard. At least when I left the hospital after a year, I got my bearings. And afterward, my life wasn't easy.

Q: Please talk about your long career on the TV show, "General Hospital," and your character, Sonny Corinthos. How have some of your own personal experiences been incorporated into Sonny's storyline

A: Well, I've been on the show for 27 years, and he's a great character. He's got a lot of strength. He's got a lot of vulnerability.

And he's bipolar. They came to me a year into the gig and asked if I would mind if they made the character bipolar. I said I didn't mind. Being a method actor, it worked perfectly. Except for one time I did a storyline that lasted way too long, and I had a panic attack at the end.

Q: In your memoir, you describe a doctor who was of tremendous help to you. Can you tell us about him?

A: Dr. Noonan was the psychiatrist who I saw when I left the hospital because nobody would tell me what was wrong with me. They would never tell me. So I went to Dr. Noonan, and the first day, he looked at me and wrote a bunch of stuff down. He said, "You are manic depressive; let's put you on lithium. It's going to take a little time, but we'll get it. We'll get back on your feet."

Q: What happens when you don't take your medications?

A: When I don't take the lithium, I have another manic episode. I don't have any side effects with lithium, which is fantastic because a lot of people do have side effects. The only side effect I have is if I don't take it, I have a breakdown.

Q: How did you meet your wife, Paula? How has she influenced your life?

A: Well, my wife, when I met her, she was 16 years old. She was working at a shopping mall. And I asked her out and went one date, but I decided she was too young. I went back a year later to see her, and she was then 17 years old. We started going out.

The thing about my wife — that I keep getting asked about — is, if I'm going through something, she will talk to me, and it calms me down.

Q: She sounds like she's been a wonderful support to you.

A: Yes. I mean, she's been with me since the beginning — and during my episodes — (and) she stuck around.

Q: You have supported nonprofits involved with mental-health issues, including the San Diego-based International Bipolar Foundation. Do you intend to continue that work?

A: I think that you can take any of these organizations, ask me whatever my role is, whatever they need, I'll go, I'm there. That's what I do. I've even given out awards to other people; I'm always very nervous. But I'm proud to be involved with all these organizations.

Q: How do you keep yourself both physically and mentally healthy?

A: I get up and I have to work out. You've got to eat fairly healthy, too. Now I'm doing meditation and breathing exercises because I have a bit of anxiety that I've had for a few weeks.

Q: Is that because of the COVID-19 quarantine?

A: It is — and it's a lot of different things. Not being able to go to work, the coronavirus, and other things. It hit me all at once. This will lead into my state of mind. When I talk about anxiety, I've named it Freddy Krueger. When you do battle with Freddy Krueger, it may be difficult, but don't run. Stay right there. Let him know you got him. I know it's easier said than done.

If you do the same routine you were doing before the anxiety or at least doing something for the anxiety, it will get better. Little by little, then eventually, it's gone. That's my experience.

And sure enough, even when you think it's never going to go away, because that's what our mind says, "You're going to be like this forever," it goes away. I know. I've had it happen — I can't tell you how many times.

Q: How do we as individuals and a society as a whole erase the stigma of mental health?

A: Do what we're doing right now and keep speaking to people who will bring awareness. People have to know that this is not a "Oh, it's OK, just go to your room and go to sleep situation." Let's be honest. People actually die from this.

Right now people, with what's going on, need something more than ever. I've been talking about this for a lot of years. I'm not going to say nobody cared, but it didn't do much. But now, because of the book and because of coronavirus, there seems to be a lot more talk about mental health issues. And I just hope that after this, it just keeps going. We should not end the talk.

I'm just so happy that many people are buying my book and talking about mental health. Let's do something. Let's keep talking — continue to bring awareness to it. I mean, you're doing it by talking to me right now. This is it.

"Nothing General About It: How Love (And Lithium) Saved Me On and Off General Hospital" by Maurice Benard with Susan Black. William Morrow, 256 pages

Davidson is a freelance writer.

___

(c)2020 The San Diego Union-Tribune

Visit The San Diego Union-Tribune at www.sandiegouniontribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.