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RIP Anthony Bourdain

What an amazing storyteller he was.  I was a fan after reading "Kitchen Confidential."  RIP. 
 
Sometimes, your demons get the best of you.  Unfortunately, it seems he had more than his share of demons. 
 
I simply cannot comprehend the degree of despair one needs to feel in order to leave your only child, which you so obviously worship, fatherless, leave your love, and end it all in such a manner your very best friend and confident is the one who finds your body.  I just don't understand.
 
I seen conspiracies already popup that he was about to expose so some pedophile group, hes been outspoken about sex abuse, have not seen any evidence of that though.
Besides the shock of reading he died, thinking about his kid was what popped up next in I couldn't believe he would do that to his kid.
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
Or opposite, he was always like that and those drugs were his escape, once clean he was flooded back with darkness. 
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     I guess maybe. But regardless of whether or not you consider heroin or cocaine to be an "escape", prolonged addiction to them will cause nearly irreversible changes to a person's brain chemistry. His abuse of them no doubt took a bad situation and turned it into a nightmare.
 
This one really hit me.  Like when Chris Cornell or Robin Williams went.  His books were an inspiration for me and his shows were great fun.
 
I know it's not for me to judge as I'm not privy to any of what he was dealing with but god damnit man!  
 
Hybrid Mode 01 said:
 
     I just don't think a person can slam that much heroin and smoke that much crack and expect to rely on their brain's pleasure and reward centers to be there for them ever again.
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That's about the only thing I've heard about his death that makes even a little bit of sense.
 
dragonsfire said:
 I couldn't believe he would do that to his kid.
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I think you're making a judgement that isn't yours to make.  In all likelihood, what he did had nothing to do with a rational thought process.
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Depression is called a "mental illness" for a reason.  One of the reasons, is that irrational acts are carried out, without any link to rational thought.  You cannot rationalize irrationality.  You can ask all the questions in the word, like "what could we have done", or "why would he/she do that".  But those answers are not to be found.  It's foolish and arrogant to assume that they are.
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Let's not forget - mental illnesses are "treated" or "contained", but never cured.  They are a biochemical defect.
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As someone who has had family members do worse things than this, I can say with certainty, that's it's selfish and judgmental for any rational person to call another human being who is not in their rational mind, selfish, when they take their own lives.  As humans, we have a "survive at all costs" mentality hardwired into our very fabric, when we're functioning properly.  It's only logical to conclude that this doesn't happen, unless something is VERY wrong with the person who does it.
 
Ive been in that situation a couple times first time when I was 17, the only reason I didnt "Do It" because it would kill my mother. I know very well the power of depression, been their, and it pops in now and then, I fight it like a battle.
 
WarrantMan said:
It is sad to see such things and even more difficult to contemplate the variables that make one come to a conclusion that suicide is the "best" option. I've often heard, and believe it to be so, that suicide is "a permanent solution to a temporary problem."  
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That's how it is now. I feel like religious people don't think it through when it comes to eternity. Heaven or Hell would eventually be one and the same.

Imagine being medically immortal. You don't physically age and you'll never be sick. Now think about a baby and how often you see him or her in a state of wonder and almost pure joy. How often do you feel like that NOW? What would that take after being around a thousand years? Keep in mind that a thousand years is just a blip on the radar on a geological scale.

People only think they want to be alive forever. Suicide is mental illness currently. It'll someday be the norm.
 
dragonsfire said:
Ive been in that situation a couple times first time when I was 17, the only reason I didnt "Do It" because it would kill my mother. I know very well the power of depression, been their, and it pops in now and then, I fight it like a battle.
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I have an uncle that shot himself in the face, in front of his stepson, in the family's front yard.  We're talking about a guy who didn't have any worse problems than the average person.  One day, for no particular reason, his number was up, and he put the deed in motion.
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He was diagnosed as clinically depressed.  He had all of the classic warning signs. For those of us in the family that knew him best, it wasn't a matter of "if", but "when".  There was no asking why, and no talking him out of it.  Towards the end, the things he said, the things he did, they weren't uncharacteristic.
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You cannot judge the mentally ill.  They are not on our scale, and we don't understand them.
 
Ghaleon said:
That's how it is now. I feel like religious people don't think it through when it comes to eternity. 
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That's just the thing - the thinking is already done for them.  All they have to do, is "follow the recipe".
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People like easy.  Whether it's growing peppers, or pondering the meaning of life...
 
I think most people have had a time or two in their lives when they feel that there's not too many reasons to get out of bed in the morning. And then, you start gardening. This isn't a joke. It's what brings me great happiness and what gets me out of bed even in the worst times. There are a lot of ways to escape from reality, but I feel that gardening is both realistic, constructive and therapeutic. I don't suffer from mental illness but I think those that do can greatly benefit from the rewarding feeling that comes with having your own garden.
 
Edmick,
 
I agree with much of what has been said here on this thread, and yours "I think most people have had a time or two in their lives when they feel that there's not too many reasons to get out of bed in the morning." 
 
I have had my own trials, tribulations and dark thoughts. Dealing with the folks I do, I often engage them at very low points in their lives. Some escape it, while others never do. While it weighs heavy for me in mind and heart, I get reminded daily that my "troubles" pale in comparison to most. So as bad as my personal drama might get, there is always someone far worse.
 
Early in life, an old man told me something that has stuck in my head ever since, and when life "gets to me" I think of it and it keeps me trucking on.... that is "you think it's bad you have no shoes, until you meet the man that has no feet."
 
What you guys are saying is legit.  I definitely agree with Edmick.  (although I just chalk that up to us introverts being superior in the ability to withdraw when necessary, and escape to our mind's sanctuary - gardening is but one zen tool to accomplish this)  However, let's not make any mistake - being bummed and blue once in a while is a very different thing than being clinically depressed.  
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The older I get, the more that I am beginning to see clinical depression as a death sentence, which wasn't earned, and has no pardon.  As we grow older, and we see how it affects people that we know, it does make us ask these questions, and to reflect on it as something more than a condemnation of conscious actions - whereas I see younger people as more judgemental and lacking in empathy on the matter.
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I have known many cases of clinical depression.  Several ended with suicide.  Several more have completely dysfunctional lives.  Some of the things that these people have told me, are like they've been reading the same script.  But it's not anything that can be understood by the non-depressed person.  As callous as it may sound, my opinion is that the best you can ever do, is enjoy these people every second they are with you, because their lives are a pre-written tragedy.
 
Sadly, there are people that never find that happiness despite how great their life appears to everyone else. I brought up the gardening because it's what makes me really happy but I partly brought it up because I had a great uncle (who I never met) that actually commited suicide from ingesting pesticides. He was an avid gardener that went blind and apparently couldn't handle the fact of never seeing his garden again so he ended it. In a pretty painful way I imagine.. I don't fault people for doing it. I just feel bad knowing that their last days were pretty fuggin lonely. Hopefully they found what they were looking for on the other side. My wife works for the mental health department for the county and sees this stuff every day. Very sad stories but she works a lot with police agencies to keep these people out of jails and get them the help they need. They've been credited with helping a lot of people and they keep increasing funding for the program because of it. More cities should have these programs cuz they do work.
 
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