General Hospital star Maurice Benard has been involved in several exciting storylines on the long-time soap opera while playing Sonny Corinthos. However, the most recent one heading into the 2024 sweeps season upset some fans. The storyline involves mental health issues, but it is a cause that Benard holds close to his heart.
Here is what is happening on General Hospital and what Benard had to say about the storyline.
Sonny Corinthos Involved In Storyline About Mental Health Medication
Sonny Corinthos knows he is always in danger, as a mob boss in Port Charles. However, the General Hospital character also deals with mental health issues. He has depression and anxiety issues and takes prescription medication to help keep his bipolar tendencies in check. That has come back to haunt him as it seems someone is messing with his medications.
Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart) has plans to kill Sonny Corinthos on General Hospital. The ABC soap opera revealed that Valentin runs Pikeman and is not just part of the operation. Valentin admitted to Jack Brennan (Charles Mesure) that he planned to kill Sonny and then admitted that he had altered the mob boss’s medication dosage. This isn’t the first time General Hospital did a storyline involving messing with someone’s medicine.
This has some fans upset. Many think it could give people ideas on how to hurt someone by messing with their prescription medication. Others don’t feel comfortable about the idea of using mental health issues in a soap opera storyline. However, it isn’t new and actor Maurice Benard has spoken up about the situation.
“There’s been a lot of talk about mental health lately people concerned for my health. I like it…talk brings awareness,” Maurice wrote on X. “GH has always done an impressive job with bipolar stories [but] it can’t be perfect. It’s TV not real life. LET’S NEVER STOP TALKING.”
Maurice Benard Has Been Open About His Own Mental Health Issues
Maurice Benard is the perfect person to speak up on mental health issues. Doctors diagnosed Benard as bipolar in 1985 when he was 22. He has since become a spokesperson for treatment of the disorder with Mental Health America. It was Maurice’s idea for Sonny to also deal with the disorder. He brings his real-life experiences into the role.
Maurice also hosts a YouTube video podcast series called State Of Mind. Every week, he invites a new guest to discuss mental health challenges. His guests either deal with them individually or talk about someone they know and love who faces these challenges.
After this week’s episodes of General Hospital, fans might not be talking so much about the medication because someone tried to kill Sonny in a very different way. A sniper took a shot at him on Monday’s episode, grazing him in the arm while hitting Dante. However, the twist is that Jason Morgan was working with the sniper, and stopped him at the last minute before killing him.
What are your thoughts about the Sonny storylines surrounding his medicine getting switched out? Do you think this is a situation General Hospital should avoid? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
