to start college in 1981. In September 1981, Francis called a press conference to officially announce her departure from the series by the end of the year. With news of Francis' impending departure from General Hospital, it was reported that she had received other job offers from both ABC and CBS. While ABC offered Francis a role on Dynasty, CBS offered Francis a more lucrative contract for starring roles in films and the lead in a potential prime time drama. Francis concluded her nearly five-year run on January 15, 1982. The writers set up a "mysterious disappearance" for Laura with the network claiming it was due to Francis leaving for college. However, Francis claimed that she did not plan on attending school full-time. "They never really gave me an exit" Francis said of her departure. "It was unfair to me and unfair to the fans." Within the story, Laura was simply a missing person. Francis filmed her final scenes "as if it were any other day." Francis speculated that the network underestimated how serious she was about leaving the show because she felt limited. "I would have stayed on if they had been a little more considerate of my time and allowed me to take other parts. It wasn't a question of money – they were quite generous – I was just tired of the same old role." In a 1993 interview featured in People magazine, Francis said "I was on the verge of having a total emotional breakdown" from the pressure of it all. But in a 2006 interview with the Archive of American Television, Francis said her 1982 departure occurred because she was in the throes of a drug problem that lasted a year. After being hospitalized, during which Anthony Geary and Gloria Monty visited her, she quickly returned to the set. While in her dressing room, Francis was informed by a crewmember that Monty had said "It didn't matter if she lived or died because Tony Geary is the whole show." "I left the show in that heartbeat," Francis said. "I thought that if it doesn't matter that I live or die, then I'm gone." Francis herself suggested a storyline for her potential return that featured Laura's onscreen death; however that never panned out. In October 1983, it was announced that Francis had agreed to a brief return stint to reunite the characters of Luke and Laura.