218 - Living With Bipolar Disorder With Emmy-Winning Actor Maurice Benard

The Verywell Mind Podcast

Dotdash Media Inc.

Health & Fitness, Self-improvement, Mental Health, Education

5 • 703 Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2022

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Since 1993, Maurice Benard has been playing Sonny Corinthos on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. Maurice has made his battle with bipolar disorder public. The writers at General Hospital have even made his on-screen character bipolar so that he can depict what it’s like to live with bipolar disorder. Maurice’s book, Nothing General About It, reveals how he’s learned to live with bipolar and how he’s managing his symptoms. He also started a YouTube show called State of Mind, where he shares information on mental health. Some of the things he talks about today are what it was like to have a 'nervous breakdown,' how to recognize when you need medication for a mental health issue, and how to start recognizing the things that trigger mental health problems in your life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast. We've interviewed over 100 authors, experts, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, and others to help you learn strategies to care for your mental health.
0:22.9	This episode is hosted by psychotherapist and bestselling author Amy Morin. Now let's get into the episode.
0:48.8	Okay. You've likely heard of bipolar disorder, but how well do you actually understand it?
0:52.7	Bipolar is probably one of the most commonly misunderstood conditions.
0:54.8	And it's really no wonder why.
1:01.1	There are different types of bipolar. The symptoms can vary greatly too. Sometimes people who have manic episodes exhibit psychosis. At other times, people experience a deep depression that makes
1:06.9	it hard to get out of bed for months at a time. It's estimated that somewhere around 4%
1:11.9	of people in the United States have bipolar disorder. So there's a good chance that you might
1:16.5	know someone who has it. Learning more about it can help you have a better understanding.
1:21.8	Here today to talk more about bipolar disorder is Maurice Bernard, who plays the popular character
1:27.3	Sunny Carinthos, on General
1:28.9	Hospital. He's a fierce advocate for mental health. He wrote a book called Nothing General
1:34.5	about it, where he shares how the illness has affected him and how he's gotten treatment for it.
1:39.5	He also started a mental health YouTube show called State of Mind. Some of the things he talks about
1:45.3	today are how he got honest about sharing his struggles with people, the strategies that help him
1:50.1	get through his darkest times, and how he came to accept his illness. Make sure to stick
1:55.2	around until the end of the episode for The Therapist Take. It's the part of the show where I'll
1:59.7	break down Maurice's strategies
2:01.1	and share how you can apply them to your own life. So here's Maurice Bernard on how he
2:06.6	copes with bipolar disorder. Maurice Bernard, welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast. Thank you very much,
2:13.4	Amy. I'm excited to talk to you. So my grandmother was a huge general hospital fan for years.
2:20.0	She taped every episode on VHS tape. And I lived with her during college for a while and got caught up on general hospital.
	...

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