Chris McKenna is opening up about his mental health.
In a preview for his upcoming appearance on co-star Maurice Benard’s State of Mind podcast, the 48-year-old actor, who currently plays Jack Brennan on General Hospital, shared that he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has required hospitalization for treatment in the past.
Keep reading to find out more…Chris explained that his struggles hit a breaking point during the COVID-10 lockdown.
“It just lingered on and on … the monotony and not, like, moving on with my life,” Chris recalled. “I was back at home and it really started to do a number on my mental health in particular.”
“Anything, like, specific for you that happened as far as you want to talk about or anything?” asked Maurice, who has also been very open about his own struggles with bipolar disorder.
“Well, I’ll talk about the fact that I have bipolar disorder,” Chris said. “This is the first time I’m ever talking about it publicly.”
“So, from one bipolar to another bipolar, how you doing, brother?” Maurice asked Chris.
“I’m doing good right now,” Chris answered. “It hasn’t always been the case, but I’m good right now.”
He went on to share that he’s struggled with drugs and alcohol in the past, and that his mental health struggles began when he was a teenager.
“I had my first breakdown when I was a teenager and then lived my whole life with this disorder undiagnosed, which is fascinating in retrospect,” Chris said.
He shared that he experienced “heavy cyclothymia” — a rare mood disorder that causes extreme highs and lows, according to the Mayo Clinic — during COVID, which triggered “my first dangerous depression since [I was] a teenager, which was followed by a manic psychotic episode which required hospitalization.”
Before his official diagnosis, Chris said that he was struggling with delusions, and believing that he could read minds. At first, he thought his symptoms were simply caused by marijuana use, before eventually accepting that he was bipolar.
He said that his hospitalization is when “I finally got my diagnosis that I needed my whole life and got on medication, and that’s where I am today.”
Chris‘ full interview on State of Mind will be released on Sunday, December 21 on YouTube.
If you didn’t see, an iconic General Hospital actor recently passed away.