They appear in front of millions in the movies, on television, and on stage. But off-camera, away from the crowds, they secretly battled mental illness. Linda Hamilton, Maurice Benard, and Shawn Colvin speak publicly about their struggles with depression.
Here is a part of the discussion with Maurice Benard, since he is my
all time fave actors on General Hospital..Im so glad Oprah finally had him
on her show..unfortunately I wasn't there..just wanna kick myself(Randi!).
This is a sad issue..but its good to know these artists can stay positive and
still live out their dream careers..with the help & love of their loved ones.
what do you guys think about this?
Maurice Benard sizzles as Sonny Corinthos on ABC's hit soap opera, General Hospital. In real life, the devoted family man has been married to his sweetheart, Paula, for 14 years and they live a quiet life in Los Angeles with their two daughters. But Maurice's life isn't as picture perfect as it seems. Behind the scenes, Maurice battles a mental illness that, at its worst, left him suicidal and inside a mental institution wondering if he'd ever get out.
Maurice's struggle with the demons of his bipolar disorder began in his early 20s just as he was beginning his acting career. One night, he slipped into what he calls "the dark side" and turned violent against his mother. Maurice recalls that night: "I grabbed her, kind of physically, by the arm. When I looked at my dad and I said that I was the devil and I was yelling at him. Scary. And my mind was racing a hundred miles an hour. It's kind of like being in a nightmare and not being able to wake up. They had to admit me."
In his 20s, Maurice Benard was diagnosed as manic-depressive. "What's happening inside of you, you almost feel like you want to explode. You have so much emotion. So much energy. Almost like a drug. The high you get from it." For Maurice, the manic highs are always followed by deep, paralyzing depression. "It's just an enormous, enormous amount of pain."
When Maurice met the love of his life Paula, he was honest about his condition and on medication to control it, but Paula had no idea what to expect. Then, in 1993, a few years after they were married, Maurice took a risk and stopped taking his medication. Soon, he landed the role of Sonny on General Hospital. Just three weeks into his new job, Maurice plunged into a dark mania. Rapidly losing control, Maurice couldn't distinguish what was real from what was on TV. He began talking to Paula with his character's lines. "It was probably about a week's time that I saw the transformation," said Paula. "It wasn't just, like, one moment or one day that it happened. But, literally you see someone becoming a totally different person."
Then, one frightening night, Paula witnessed Maurice's final breakdown. While Paula's nieces were sleeping over, Maurice drank half a bottle of wine and threatened Paula's life. "I said, 'Don't cry. If you cry, I'm going to kill you. And I'm gonna kill your nieces,'" Maurice explains. "I put my hand on one of the girls. That was just to scare her. The dark side wants to just…it's a game. Always pushing, pushing, pushing."
Since that frightening night 10 years ago, Maurice Benard has remained on his medication. But his wife Paula says, "He still flirts with the idea of not taking the medication. He flirts, because now, you know, I wouldn't let him [stop]. There's no way."
Like Linda Hamilton, Maurice recognizes that he self-medicated his depression in the past. "When I was a kid, when I was a teenager and stuff, I used to drink quite a bit and now I can look back and say I was self-medicating myself. I was kind of taught not to cry, because I'm Hispanic, so I couldn't let it out. And if you hold things in too long, you're gonna cry eventually. You'll explode."
Maurice says playing Sonny, his character on General Hospital, helps him express his "dark side." "This character's so dark and intense," says Maurice. "Playing him, I'm able to cry, which I don't normally do. Or I'm able to yell, you know. I don't want to do that at home, so I get to do it at work and leave it there."
Here's the link to view the other artist stories:
http://images.oprah.com/tows/slide/..._101.jhtml;jsessionid=QWYPNDH0QPTWTLARAYGCFEQ
