Maurice Benard Addresses Suicide After Billy Miller Death

General Hospital actor Maurice Benard addresses suicide after Billy Miller took his life. The beloved actor has been an advocate for mental health for over 30 years since he too suffers from bipolar disorder. Not only does Maurice suffer from the illness in real life, his character Sonny Corinthos also has the disorder. Since Billy’s passing, Maurice has been speaking out even more about suicide awareness and advocating for mental health. Keep reading to find out what he has said in recent months and days.

Maurice Benard talks about suicide, almost took his own life

In a recent interview with Lifestyle With Roy Ice, Maurice Benard spoke about his passion for advocating for mental health. Ironically the interview was back in August prior to Billy Miller’s suicide. But, even then, Maurice has talked about battling through the hard times.

During the interview, he spoke about being told as a young actor to not talk about mental health because it may keep him from getting hired for acting jobs. Maurice decided to do an article about mental health. He received a letter from a boy who said that Maurice had helped him through the difficult time of losing his brother to suicide. After that, he said he didn’t care if he got hired, he’s going to talk about it and he’s been advocating for mental health for over 30 years now.

Maurice Benard-YouTube

He also talked about how important the “not alone” phrase really is. Maurice revealed that during the pandemic he had reached a point where he was about ready to go. He said he prayed to God and the first thing that came to his mind was his family. He also thought about all the people who follow him on State of Mind. Maurice wondered what would happen to them all if he had done himself in.

He realized that all of these people who had looked up to him would think it was okay to give up. He then didn’t go through with it. He said his wife always told him “You are stronger than you know.”

His new message to fans

Maurice went to Instagram to share another video which is an interview he did about suicide awareness. In the video, he said, “When I hear about a suicide. I don’t know what it is in me, I feel like I could have done something about it… even though I probably couldn’t. I don’t know how to fix it. We have to figure it out. Because look — we only hear about the celebrities that commit suicide. We don’t hear about all the other people that you know, that I know. The only way that I know how to fix it… it by what I’m doing here. And that’s talking… bringing awareness.”

He captioned his post by saying, “Since the pandemic I have been speaking out on Suicide quite a lot, in the beginning, I was hesitant, I didn’t know how people would handle it.”

He went on to say at the end of his post, “if you know anyone who is going through any kind of darkness, chaos, pain.
Just know, all you can do is give them love, patience, understanding, and hopefully Professional help if they agree.
and unfortunately, if someone doesn’t want to be on this earth anymore, there’s only so much we can do
just remember, it’s not your fault never blame yourself ✝️☮️✝️.”

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A post shared by Maurice Benard (@mauricebenard)

One never knows how deeply someone is hurting

Billy Miller’s suicide is a message to everyone that sometimes people hide their pain well. His death, while tragic, is bringing awareness to the depths that mental illness can take someone.

Billy will be missed by all who knew and loved him. He will always be remembered for his roles on The Young and the Restless and General Hospital. 

If you know someone who needs help, encourage them to reach out for help and assure them they are not alone. Anyone can call or text 988 at any time day or night.

Rest in peace Billy Miller.

Billy Miller-YouTube