An intensely personal exploration of trauma, grief, and mental health took center stage as General Hospital star Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) welcomed New York Times bestselling author Laura Day onto his popular podcast, State of Mind. The raw, emotionally charged conversation tackled the delicate line dividing intuition from crippling anxiety, offering viewers a profound look at how individuals survive life’s most distressing emotional trials.
Facing Anxiety and Coping With Childhood Trauma
Maurice Benard originally established his State of Mind podcast to provide a safe, open platform for discussing mental illness. During the Sunday episode, Day—an author of six books who has spent four decades utilizing intuition to help individuals and billion-dollar companies achieve their goals—shared deep insights into how people endure severe emotional pain.
Day emphasized that everyone experiences pain, but what truly matters is how one endures it and what they choose to do with it. She noted that the absolute worst parts of life can bring people to the best places if they possess the proper tools, expressing her belief that children should be taught mental health tools from the moment they are born. Benard wholeheartedly agreed, adding that it is a shame school children are not taught more about mental health.
The discussion shifted into Day’s own difficult childhood before she became a celebrated speaker and author. When Benard asked how old she was when her mother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Day candidly shared the painful history surrounding her mother’s battle.
While exact timelines were hard to pinpoint because her mother’s first suicide attempt occurred during her teenage years, Day explained that her mother was 43 when she committed suicide, leaving Day at just 14 years old.
Navigating Grief, Bipolar Battles, and Daily Discipline
The dialogue turned toward the heavy burden of grief and deep suffering. Day recalled moments in her own life where the pain was so severe she wondered how her heart was still beating.
For those enduring intense suffering, Day explained that understanding why traumatic events happened matters far less than discovering actionable steps to move forward. Rather than remaining stuck in past trauma or an old identity, she urged viewers to ask themselves who they could become if they stopped repeating the person they have already been.
Benard, who has always been exceptionally transparent about his own lived experience with Bipolar Disorder, deeply resonated with Day’s insights. The ABC daytime actor detailed his own battles with severe mania, debilitating panic, and the terrifying ways manic episodes warp reality.
Benard recalled the pivotal moment his psychiatrist looked at him and said, “You’re not crazy.” That crucial validation, paired with the right medical treatment like lithium, helped save his life.
Addressing the division between traditional medical psychiatry and holistic healing, Day emphasized that people do not have to choose strictly between the two. Quoting Benard’s own book, she noted, “Love and lithium helped me.”
She detailed her personal daily physical resets, such as avoiding electronic screens immediately upon waking, getting natural light in her eyes, drinking water, and writing. Benard strongly agreed that establishing essential daily habits and physical discipline plays a vital role in managing ongoing mental health struggles.
Fans React to the Emotional Conversation
General Hospital viewers and podcast listeners flooded the comments section with heartfelt gratitude for the honest dialogue. Many resonated with the theme of survival, with one viewer writing that for many people, life has largely been a matter of mere survival, and that hanging in there teaches people that thriving can eventually happen within that survival.
Another appreciative listener shared that they deal with anxiety on a daily basis even while taking medication, noting that Day’s tips provided helpful guidance for managing work-related dread.
How have Maurice Benard’s open conversations about mental health on State of Mind impacted your own approach to emotional well-being and recovery?
