'General Hospital' Star Maurice Benard Discussed His Bipolar Disorder with Dr. Oz (Video)

Dr. Oz and Maurice Benard

General Hospital star Maurice Benard appeared Thursday on The Dr. Oz Show to discuss his struggle with bipolar disorder.

The Emmy winner told Dr. Oz that he kept it to himself early in his career.

“The reason I didn’t talk about it was a few people had told me if I tell people I’m bipolar, I’m not gonna get hired as an actor,” Benard said.

Bernard discussed his bipolar disorder in an interview, and was later moved when he received a letter from a boy who had found inspiration in his words after his brother killed himself.

“So I decided that’s more important than any directors hiring me,” Benard explained. “People need to know about these things because people do die.”

Benard also revealed he was put into a mental institution as a teenager where he found himself tied down with restraints and was desperate to escape. After pulling a latch off of the wall, he even considered slitting his wrists to end his life.

“And I started praying, 'God help me,'” he remembered. “And I took the latch, bent it and made it into a cross and put it by my bed.”

Watch Benard's segment below.