Sadly, after many decades, soap operas still can't seem to get it right when it comes to mental health. This is with the exception of "General Hospital." When the show planned a bipolar storyline with Sonny, the actor was immediately on board, but getting it right was tricky. Luckily, they have. The show was also successful in depicting Sonny's son Morgan as bipolar. On medication, he was stable; off the medication, he was a mess. Actor Brian Craig, who won an Emmy for his work, got it just right. He even was great at having the character pretend he was fine when he was not, showing the layers of acting. The show showed the terror of the illness and the joy when a person is on and stays on the right protocol, which often includes therapy to deal with the issues.

In other columns on this subject, I quoted doctors and patients who dealt with clinical depression. This time, I am going to reveal my battle with it: the good, the bad and the hope. Upfront, I have to say that if I was ruled by the soap storylines I do not know where I would be. With proper treatment, I have become a person I love to be.

I always dreamed of living in New York City. That dream became a nightmare. Three months into my stay, I started showing signs of clinical depression. People do not realize that the television screen does not depict this correctly. I felt as if I were in a black hole. I checked myself into a hospital.

The hospital had a group system, where you had to get the group's OK to do certain things. One day I had an in-person interview with Paul Anka. They would have believed me more if I said I was meeting with Napoleon. They denied my request. My doctor overruled them. I went to the interview. Anka asked me to fly on his private jet to his next show. I knew that could not happen.

In those days, medication is not amazing as it is today. Months into my stay, I asked my doctors to try one last thing: Electroconvulsive therapy. It saved me.

In the decades since, hospitals have changed. However, the way they are portrayed on soaps has not. If I had taken what soaps portrayed as gospel, I do not know where I would be.

Soaps have done wonderful stories about controversial issues such as abortion, addiction and LGBT storylines. But when it comes to mental health issues, they are in the dark ages. It is time they let in the light about mental illness. They can rescue people. If they do not want to do that, they can at least stop doing harm and get caught up on the facts.

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.