Maurice Benard

Listen to "Maurice Benard Releases The Book Nothing General About It" on Spreaker. Setting his book apart from Hollywood tales before him, Maurice opens up about his lifelong struggle with mental health. The result is a shocking, candid, and motivational story that offers lessons in perseverance-of the importance of believing in and fighting for yourself through the darkest of times. When he was only twenty, Maurice was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, offering an explanation for a childhood full of mood swings, and hallucinations. At the time, he was still a burgeoning actor, not yet known as one of the most well-known characters on daytime television: General Hospital's Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr. As his career took off, he was also trying to figure out how to curb violent behavioral episodes and create stability at home with his wife, who endured his violent, unpredictable episodes as he tried to gain control of his condition. In NOTHING GENERAL ABOUT IT, Maurice looks back to his youth in a small town and his tenuous relationship with his father. He describes how, after a major breakdown, he was placed in a psychiatric institution as a teenager, and a doctor finally saved his life by putting him on lithium. He writes bravely about how, even after he "made it," he still grappled with terrifying lows, breakdowns, and setbacks, and how he came to see mental health as a lifelong journey. Maurice knew that the threat of manic episodes would impact him every day on the set of General Hospital, and at home with his beloved wife and four children and made it his mission to educate others about bipolar, mental health, and the importance of community. His is an incredible love story about an enduring marriage that demonstrates what those vows-for better, for worse, in sickness and in health-truly mean. Paying tribute to the community that has been there for him through thick and thin, Maurice ruminates on the importance of both inherited and created family. NOTHING GENERAL ABOUT IT offers insights and advice for everyone trying to cope with mental illness or support a loved one through their journey. Filled with 16 pages of photos from Maurice's decorated life and career, his book will resonate not only for General Hospital fans, but also with those who are passionate about mental health awareness.