Nathan Dean Talks Grieving His Brother’s Death, Admits He Had ‘No Idea’ He Struggled with Mental Health (Exclusive)
Nathan Dean Talks Grieving His Brother’s Death, Admits He Had ‘No Idea’ He Struggled with Mental Health (Exclusive)
Vanessa EtienneSun, April 12, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC
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Nathan Dean and his late brother JaredCredit: State Of Mind with Maurice Benard/YouTube -
Nathan Dean reflected on his younger brother Jared's 2018 death and their shared struggles with mental health
He also discussed grieving his former General Hospital co-star Anthony Geary, who died in December 2025
Dean opened up about his experience on the State of Mind podcast ahead of his return to General Hospital on April 17
Nathan Dean (formerly Parsons) is opening up for the first time about his late brother.
The 37-year-old made an appearance on the April 12 episode of Maurice Benard's State of Mind podcast. Ahead of World Semicolon Day on April 16 — a mental health awareness day dedicated to suicide prevention — the actor reflected on the death of his younger brother, Jared, who died in 2018.
“He was 28,” Dean said in PEOPLE's exclusive first look of the episode. “He waited two weeks after my mom's birthday just so he could have a happy birthday with her and then he drove to Fort Hood and shot himself in the face. There was no lead-up to it.”
Dean said there were no signs that he and his family noticed. He admitted that it was difficult to come to terms with because during that time, he was struggling himself.
“I had struggled with mental health for decades. I never imagined that my little brother was going through the same thing,” he said, pointing out that Jared was unfortunately “fantastic” at covering it up. “We had no idea he was dealing with that. I think that's the biggest problem with mental health. Until the individual can actually access the problem… it's just unknown.”
Benard added, “It's conversations like this that need to be had all the time… not only for us, but for whoever is out there going, ‘Now I can talk.' ”
During the show, Dean also opened up about the recent loss of his former General Hospital co-star Anthony Geary. He said his bond with Geary was established both on- and off-screen.
“I left the show about six years before he retired. In those years, I would fly out to Amsterdam, hang out with him and Claudio [Gama],” he recalled. “They were like my European family. I got to spend a lot of time with them.”
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However, Dean shared that because of work schedules, it had been a couple of years since he had last seen Geary, and his wife was the one who told him about his passing. Geary died in December 2025 following complications from an operation.
“I didn't really know what to do with that information,” Dean said of processing the actor's death. “It was the same way like when my brother passed… I'll grieve, but did they live the life they wanted to live?… From my understanding Tony was asleep. He passed away peacefully, but I didn't know what to do with that. Are we ever supposed to know what to do with death? It's an inevitable thing… but how do you then approach it?”
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Despite navigating grief in a number of ways, Dean has maintained a positive perspective and has a lot to look forward to, including making his return to General Hospital after six years.
On April 17, Dean is set to reprise his role as Ethan Lovett, the son of Luke Spencer (Geary) and Holly Sutton (Emma Samms). He originally appeared on the daytime soap from 2009 to 2013. He returned for three episodes in 2015 and three more in 2020, including the exit storyline for Luke upon Geary's retirement.
Nathan Dean and Maurice BenardCredit: State Of Mind with Maurice Benard/YouTube
“So excited to be back,” he wrote on Instagram. “I can't wait to see some familiar friends and enemies, and make some new ones along the way.”
Additionally, Dean also announced that he and his wife Kate are expecting their third child together. “I'm so lucky and blessed to have this wonderful woman in my life,” he wrote. “She made me whole. And I can't wait to see where this journey goes. 💥 🩷💙”
The full episode of State of Mind with Nathan Dean airs April 12 at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube and other podcast providers.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
