Cynthia Watros On GH Podcast: Family Mental Health & The Pandemic

This week, while General Hospital star Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) is on tour, he featured Cynthia Watros (Nina Reeves) on his State of Mind podcast. It was a throwback episode, but he did tell his ABC fans that he would be reposting some of his favorites. Well, from the reactions, it seems like Cynthia never loses her flavor with GH fans.

The First Time On The Podcast

In October 2021, when Maurice first hosted Cynthia on his podcast, he didn’t have as many followers as he does now. And certainly, he wasn’t as polished as he’s become. It was an interesting podcast and covered Watros talking about her acting career, personal life, and experiences.

Obviously, she talked about being on the ABC daytime drama, but she did touch on her role as Annie Dutton on Guiding Light and her time on Lost. However, some interesting aspects arose that viewers might have forgotten.

Actually, with the real-life Sonny Corinthos, if there’s a mental health issue anywhere in the life of his guests, he pries it out of them. So, he straight up asked Cynthia Watros about it. And she admitted that she had experience with such challenges. She told him about her grandmother, and it wasn’t an easy story.

Poor Grandma Was In A Bad Way

Cynthia Watros openly discussed her grandmother’s struggles with mental health. She recalled that her grandmother, whom she cared for in her final years, would often “stare off in space” and seemed “a little off.”

The real-life Nina Reeves recounted hearing stories that her grandmother had undergone “electric shock therapy” when her mom was a teenager. Apparently, grandma would “chase my mother with like knives,” leading to hospitalizations. Watros explained that after these treatments, her grandmother “wouldn’t quite be right.”

Although the knife-chasing ended, she became a “shell” of her former self. Sometimes, she would say that “the government’s after me and they’re looking for me” and would “laugh because the voices.” Watros sadly noted that as far as she knew, her relative was “never diagnosed,” but it was “pretty clear she had schizophrenia.”

Worrying About The Pandemic

Remember in 2021, the COVID pandemic was still ongoing, affecting pretty much everyone. The GH star’s daughters struggled. Cynthia told Maurice, it was because they were at college at the time and hated being “isolated.” That led to them struggling with depression and just “trying to find their place in the world.”

It wasn’t easy for Cynthia to cope with either. After all, as she explained, “I’m from Michigan, so I come from the breeding of ‘Oh, if my arm fell off, it’d be like, ‘Go to work.’ It’s about not complaining.” However, she did finally learn that “You have to pause and truly delve into your feelings, rather than just continuously suppressing them.”

What are your thoughts about what Cynthia had to say to Maurice Benard? Do you agree that it must have been very difficult for her grandmother and her family? Are you glad, though, that she learned to examine her feelings instead of just trying to tough it out?

<

Shout out in the comments below, and come back here often for all your General Hospital cast news and updates.