Podcast Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: We're Out of Time
Host: Richard Taite
Guest: Maurice Benard
Episode Title: From Breakdown to Breakthrough: Maurice Benard on Mental Illness and Healing
Date: October 28, 2025

This episode features Emmy-winning actor and mental health advocate Maurice Benard, best known for his role as Sonny Corinthos on General Hospital. Maurice opens up about his lifelong battle with bipolar disorder, the struggle of going public with his mental illness, and the importance of resilience, vulnerability, and support. With deep sincerity and humor, Maurice and host Richard Taite cut through stigma, discuss the state of mental health treatment, and dive into Maurice’s career and advocacy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Maurice’s Journey with Bipolar Disorder

• Early Struggles & Misdiagnosis

  • Maurice recounts his first severe mental health crisis at age 21, spending his 22nd birthday in a mental institution, and the struggle to get a proper diagnosis.
  • Quote: “They could not tell me what I had for... I was in there for two and a half weeks... finally, Dr. Noonan tells me, ‘Your manic depressor... It’s a chemical imbalance. I’m going to put you on lithium. You’re going to be fine.’” (06:09)

• Breakdown on General Hospital

  • Maurice shares how he quit General Hospital after his third nervous breakdown, caused by being off medication for two years.
  • Quote: “Every time I’ve stopped taking my medication, I have a breakdown.” (04:28)
  • Lithium has kept him stable for 32 years: “Love and lithium saved my life, and it really did.” (05:01)

2. The Trauma of Institutionalization

• Experience in a Psychiatric Hospital

  • Maurice gives a raw account of being restrained and put in seclusion for “bad behavior.”
  • Quote: “They tie you from your wrist, waist and your ankles... Mom, dad came in and look at me like, what is happening to my son?” (08:08)

• Escaping the Hospital

  • He narrates his escape, including trading a jacket for tennis shoes, running past the staff, and seeking help from strangers.
  • Memorable Moment: The humility of asking a stranger for 25 cents to use a pay phone—“First time I felt, excuse me, can I... can I have 25 cent?” (12:12)

3. The Weight of Stigma and Upbringing

• Stigma Around Mental Illness

  • Maurice describes the social stigma, the misconception that “it’s not a big deal,” and the deeply ingrained fear of what others think.
  • Quote: “With mental illness...my whole head is worrying what everybody’s gonna think.” (15:35)

• Cultural Expectations

  • Raised in a Hispanic family, the imperative was to “never show weakness.”
  • “You shouldn’t show any vulnerability when you’re Hispanic. My father’s from Nicaragua, my mother’s from San Salvador. And you care what people think? Enormously.” (16:43)

4. Family, Support, and Recovery

• The Role of Family

  • Maurice credits his parents, wife, and especially his son Joshua for supporting him at his lowest points.
  • Touching Story: When Maurice felt he couldn’t go on, his son said, “Yes, you can, because I’m gonna get you through it. And he did. It was amazing.” (20:25)

• Advice to His Younger Self

  • “I would say... don’t care about what people think... it’s what thinking what somebody’s thinking of you does to your mind and what it does to you as a person.” (21:31, 21:48)

5. Mental Health Advocacy and State of Mind

• Origin of State of Mind

  • Inspired by a panic attack, Maurice started recording himself to show the real face of mental illness—first on Instagram, then as a podcast.
  • Quote: “I started getting people—10,000, 20,000. And I saw it grow... then from that, went to YouTube... Five years later, over 500 interviews.” (24:46)

• Most Impactful Guests

  • Maurice recalls guests whose stories transcend celebrity: a police officer whose suicide attempt failed because his gun jammed, a woman who lost her arm, Cheryl Underwood’s tragic story.
  • Quote: “It doesn’t have to be celebrities. I had Cheryl Underwood tell me her husband jumped off a building.” (27:24–28:02)

6. Societal Issues: Homelessness and Mental Health

• On Homelessness

  • Both discuss the growing crisis, especially among the mentally ill. Richard proposes practical, university-driven solutions.
  • Quote: “It can be fixed in two years... all you have to do is get a group of those people that are always graduating [from psychology programs]... and have a training program that teaches them how to be golden retrievers and just take them right off the street... it’s actually quite simple.” (30:09)

• Structural Barriers

  • “Homeless people don’t vote. They don’t have anybody speaking for them... If they fix the problem, these agencies go away. So they’re incentivized to keep the problem going.” (30:56)

7. Acting, Identity, and Legacy

• Living as Sonny Corinthos

  • Maurice discusses the toll of playing a bipolar character while living with the illness. “Here I am, I am bipolar. Playing bipolar. A lot of times I didn’t... couldn’t shut it off.” (33:59)
  • On acting style: “The better you are [as an actor], the more you suffer because you become that person.” (34:22)

• Future on General Hospital

  • Addresses rumors of leaving: “No. I got a year left in the contract... I don’t think it’s going to be before I’m 65.” (39:12–39:40)
  • Maurice contemplates retirement, the need for structure post-acting, and continuing with State of Mind.

• Legacy

  • “I want my legacy to be... I was one of the—or the first—man to come out and say he was bipolar...” (43:11)
  • The pandemic radically changed perceptions of mental health: “Anybody who’s never had it and thought it was nothing now has it. And they’re like, oh, this is what that is.” (44:49)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Medication:
  “32 years straight, no breakdown.” (04:56)

• On Compassion:
  “That’s why you give homeless people money, folks. Because it is embarrassing and dehumanizing.” (13:38)

• On Why He Went Public:
  “It’s not about the acting... It’s the mental health.” (43:48)

• On Legacy:
  “I want my legacy to be I was one of the... or the first man to come out and say he was bipolar.” (43:11)

• On Validation:
  “Now everybody else is like, oh, I’m not the only one... I’m not alone... I’m not a weirdo.” (43:53)

Important Timestamps

• Early mental health experience and hospital stay: 05:36–08:15
• Story of hospital escape: 08:33–13:32
• Discussion on stigma and family values: 14:22–17:50
• Maurice’s relationship with his son, and surviving lowest point: 18:41–20:44
• Creating State of Mind podcast: 22:18–24:46
• Guests’ stories from State of Mind: 26:09–28:02
• Homelessness and mental healthcare system: 28:36–31:27
• Portraying bipolar disorder in ‘General Hospital’: 32:35–34:52
• Retirement and legacy: 39:05–43:53

Tone & Atmosphere

The episode is deeply candid, heartfelt, and unflinching—but also peppered with humor and camaraderie. Both Richard and Maurice share personal moments and perspectives, often laughing through dark recollections to keep the conversation engaging and real. The tone is frank, supportive, and practical—matching the show’s mission to break taboos around mental illness and provide hope.

Final Highlights

• Maurice will soon get Jeannie Francis (Laura of General Hospital) on his podcast State of Mind. (45:47)
• He closes with a memorable in-character Sonny Corinthos impression for the audience. (41:41–42:55)
• The episode ends on the importance of kindness and solidarity: “Gotta be good to each other, people.” (45:42)

For more on Maurice Benard’s advocacy and stories, follow him on Instagram, and check out his State of Mind YouTube channel.

Memorable Closing Quote:
“I want my legacy to be I was one of the first men to come out and say he was bipolar... It’s not about the acting. It’s the mental health.” (43:11–43:48)