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‘GH’ Actress Kirsten Storms Speaks Out About Her Severe Depression, Grateful To Be Excited About Life Again

By Kim Brandow
Published on: 06:21 PST, Aug 30, 2017

General Hospital actress Kirsten Storms has been pretty open about why she had to take a break from the show earlier this year. It was revealed that she was battling severe depression, and it was bad enough that she needed to leave her job for a while to take care of herself. Now that she is back in the full swing of things, she is happy and content with her life these days.

Storms mentioned in an interview with Soap Opera Digest that she is very thankful for getting through the worst of it. She also opened up on how bad it really was and what helped her get back on her feet. Her General Hospital character, Maxie Jones, had just snagged the man of her dreams in a fun and emotional wedding episode back in January. However, the honeymoon was over quickly as Maxie took off to Portland soon after for a job so Kirsten Storms could take her leave from the ABC soap.

The mom-of-one told SOD that she was grateful to GH executive producer, Frank Valentini, for being so understanding and concerned for her well-being. She also went into more detail of how it felt when she was going through her depression. Kirsten admitted that she had lost weight because she wasn’t eating well and not taking care of herself at all. Her fans did voice their concerns about her looking so thin.

The General Hospital actress was also letting negative thoughts consume her. She didn’t feel like going anywhere or doing anything at all. That affected her being able to do her job effectively on the GH set.

Kirsten Storms said that she is actually thankful to have gone through what she did because she is now able to live a better life now for herself and for her daughter, 3-year-old Harper. She called it a journey and she is happy that she got the help that she needed to be able to get her life back.

Kirsten mentioned that her GH co-star, Maurice Benard, had given her plenty of support and advice since he also has a mental illness that he has been so open about as well. Benard suffers from bipolar disorder, so he was quite an encouragement to her. In addition, her co-star and BFF, Emme Rylan, was there for her every step of the way. Those two are very close and are hilarious in the photos and videos they post on social media.

Her ex-husband, Brandon Barash, noticed the changes in Kirsten and he was the one who encouraged her to seek treatment for her severe depression. Now that she is back on track with her health, she says that she is excited about bringing Maxie back to General Hospital and about her life in general. She thanked her fans for also supporting her decision to take a leave from the soap and she is glad that she felt like she could open up about her illness to them.

Kirsten Storms is definitely back with a vengeance. Maxie is ready to do battle with Amy Driscoll. Little does she know that she and Nathan are not having an affair, but they are instead in cahoots with the whole Man Landers deal. Won’t she be surprised when she finds out that she is married to the sexy advice columnist that she dislikes so much?

Are you happy to have Kirsten Storms back in Port Charles? Be sure to watch Maxie let Amy have it this week on General Hospital.

[Featured Image by Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock]

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