General Hospital has broken down the barriers when it comes to some of the most controversial , gut wrenching storylines that have been on our television screens over the years and that is why we viewers tune into the show every week
They've touched upon Hiv and Aids in the 90's when Stone and Robin contracted the virus from having unprotected sex, they've tackled rape storylines with the harrowing attacks on Laura Webber, Elizabeth Webber and Emily Quartermaine in the 70's - 2000's.
They've also tackled mental health issues where Carly Corinthos Jacks, Sonny Corinthos , Luke Spencer, Heather Webber, Franco and Nina Clay are concerned.
It breaks your heart when you see someone struggling mentally when an event happens to them that makes them completely lose it.
Thanks to Maurice Benard and his advocacy for people with Bi Polar disorder we have begun to understand what its like for people with Bi Polar disorder and how difficult of a road they are on when it comes to it. Maurice showed Sonny's darkest moments with Bi Polar disorder, disturbing as it was and heartbreaking to watch we were mesmerised by the way he told Sonny's story.
Luke Spencer and Connie Falconeri have both suffered from Dissasociative Identity disorder, which is a change in personality , two sides of themselves that people often don't recognize.With intergration their two sides of themselves can come together as one.
The show has also touched upon drug and alcohol abuse with Alan, Monica and AJ Quartermaine, which lead to them finally being cured of what was eating away at them.
We've seen organ donation also being featured on the show with the deaths of BJ Jones and Jake Spencer, with Maxie receiving her heart and Josslyn receiving Jake's kidneys respectfully.
Kristina Corinthos' biggest storyline was the abuse she suffered at the hands of her boyfriend Kiefer a tough storyline that was hard to watch and yet it made the viewers aware that young girls prey victim to abuse from their boyfriends who want to control them.
Adoption and foster care have also been featured on the show with Sonny Corinthos adopting Michael and The Q's adopting Emily.
While Sam became the foster mother to Rafe Kovich.
Recently the show has paid special attention to the cause of burn victims when Spencer Cassadine was burned in a fire at Wyndemere.
Patricia Spencer had multiple sclerosis and eventually died of heart failure.
We've also have had a front row seat for characters like Michael and Jason both suffered from Brain damage after the accidents they sustained from accidents they've had Michael having been shot in the head by Ian Devlin, and his mother Carly also suffered the same fate but survived to tell the tale.
Jason has had several brain surgeries, little Jake Spencer also had brain surgery but did not survive the poor little sausage.
Stem cells have been used to save Ava Jerome from dying from Cancer , and they show has touched upon IVF and Surrogacy storylines as well featuring Lucy Coe as the surrogate for Dominque and Scott Baldwin.
We've also saw the kidnappings of the children of Port Charles, where the parents have searched for their missing kids, a thing that is very real for a lot of parents out there that have experienced first hand of what its like when your child goes missing.
Nina Clay although she faked it was wheel chair bound after she supposidly became stagnent after having been cooped up in a bed due to a coma. She got physical therapy of which she really didn't need and people were pissed at her for faking a very serious injury and who the hell could blame them.
All of these storylines have made people more aware of the enormity and importance of these issues and made people understand what its like to walk a mile in the shoes of the people that have been affected by them. Click on the links below to contact the Canadian agency's who deal with them.