General Hospital head writer, Shelly Altman, explains how Alzheimer’s story came to life

A touching story of a father and son going through an Alzheimer’s journey has been ongoing on ABC’s General Hospital with many real life situations being played out.

General Hospital has been praised these past few weeks on bringing the heart wrenching story of Alzheimer’s. It is all about the journey that Sonny Corinthos and his dad, Mike Corbin, are both taking. Mike’s battle with Alzheimer’s has come to the forefront as he and his son are dealing with this health crisis, including memories lost and their rough past.

Head writer, Shelly Altman, chatted with Parade on how the idea for this story line all came about and what the team and cast members of General Hospital all hope to accomplish by tackling this tough issue. She said that they are looking closely at how the relationship between the patient and the family are affected by this disease.

With all of the emotions that come out at this time having to deal with memory loss and even anger, Altman wants to bring all of that to light so it can help others who are dealing with it as well.

Memories and the past are the focus when it comes to Sonny and Mike. The father/son duo have had a rough past. Mike wasn’t in Sonny’s life while he was growing up. There are unresolved issues between them, but now Mike’s memories are fading fast.

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Altman explained a bit on how they chose to make this Alzheimer’s story about the Corinthos family. It almost sounds like they must have heard the cries from General Hospital fans that there was way too much mob-related stuff on the soap these days. So, they decided to see how they could take Sonny’s unresolved issues with his father and make it more challenging with this current health crisis he is facing with Mike.

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It has been been so well done that viewers have felt all of the emotions coming through as they watch it all unfold each day. Laura Wright, who plays Sonny’s wife Carly, said in an interview with Good Day LA recently that she has had people in tears at fan events saying how much they have been touched by this story. Many General Hospital fans are going through their own Alzheimer’s journey with a loved one.

In addition, there will be a big celebration on Friday’s episode to not only honor Mike Corbin, but also to celebrate General Hospital’s 55th anniversary. The combination will bring many fond memories for fans, and also to help Mike feel comfortable among old friends and familiar surroundings.

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General Hospital even got a nod from Alzheimer’s advocate, Maria Shriver. Kudos to the cast and crew of GH for taking this tough topic and turning it into not only an emotional ride for fans, but also an informative one.

There is much more to come, so keep watching General Hospital which airs weekdays on ABC.