Anthony Bourdain

I’m sure few here are really familiar with him but I it’s worth putting this out there. I really looked his shows because he told stories about real places, real people and the real food. No bs.

He was one hell of a writer and storyteller. I’ve been a fan since his No Reservations series and never really realized he had moved to CNN and started a new series until about 6 months ago.

I may have to read his book now.

If anyone is interested in travel shows, I highly recommend checking out No Reservations and his Parts Unknown.

Sad he went out that way. He was genuine .

The Best “celebrity” chef imo.

Don Meier wrote:

Sad he went out that way. He was genuine .

X2

My favorite Bourdain story is probably the time he stuck his neck out for Marilyn Hagerty, the food critic fro the Grand Forks Herald who wrote an earnest, glowing review of the new Olive Garden in town and got skewered by the internet snark force.

Bourdain was the genuine article.

Anonymous wrote:

Just for perspective… I seen on another site… 1st person, “did you hear about the suicide yesterday ?” other person… “yeah, Anthony Bourdain…sad”… 1st person… ” no, the 22 veterans that left us…”

Sounds like 23 tragic losses to me. Suicide does not discriminate — the veteran deaths speak to a major failing of this country but that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be affected by other losses like Bourdain or Robin Williams or Junior Seau or whoever else.

biggill wrote:

really looked his shows because he told stories about real places, real people and the real food. No bs.

He is a fellow hard to pin down to describe for me anyways but I think you said it well.
Ive been watching Parts Unkown on nelfix for a while something about how he just pulls you in to wht he is talking about.
The mind of a chef is great also. He just lets the chefs do their thing and one doesn’t even feel like its an interview. Very intreting way to tell a story. Thats also on netflix.

biggill wrote:

he told stories about real places, real people and the real food.

Totally agree. Good reminder that depression or suicidal thoughts aren’t treated w/ money or food or a career travelling to the most beautiful places in the world, it can happen to anyone at any time, and if you or someone you care about shows signs please reach out to them.

They way he narrated his shows always pulled me in. I could never pinpoint what it was but I always thought it was so well done. His writing was pretty amazing also.

Before he was on TV, I read his book Kitchen Confidential and it was a fascinating look at the business of restaurants and what it takes to survive in the kitchen. His stories of the gawdawful hard work and sacrifice people make to work in restaurants put the whole experience in a whole new light and gave me even more respect for good food no matter what kitchen it comes from.

There’s no way, IMO, not to see his death as part of a broader and very worrying trend. Depending on whose numbers you use, suicides are up 25 to 50%. This is absolutely terrible and like every school shooting, it just makes me angry that a wealthy country like the USA cannot fund anything that even approaches adequate mental health treatment.

It is that much WORSE that our veterans are dying because of this lack of mental health resources. There should be no question that more resources need to be available to them, but then that only proves how big the need is and makes it all the worse that this country turns its back on our own people.

Grouse

…just when I thought I may have found a topic on IDO that wouldn’t be derailed toward argumentative responses, I’m proven wrong.

Back to the topic:

He made food and travel interesting in a unique way while having real conversations. His work seemed real in an era where real television and interviews are few and far between. Rest In Peace.

Agree with everybody on here. Guy was straight up, real, and entertaining to watch. Sad to hear about this.

The stigma of mental illnesses needs to end, and we need a major awakening in this country. I agree 100% with grouse on this.
It pisses me off that it takes a celebrity’s death to get some awareness, then it goes nowhere. The lack of resources in the United States for people with depression, anxiety,….is completely disgusting. A person with stage 4 cancer can immediately have an army of doctors and medical staff working to extend their life. Yet someone reaching out for help with mental illness may have to wait over a year to see a phycatrist. WTF

I totally agree with you Randy. Suicide, mental health and opioid addiction should be considered pandemics in this country. They are being treated the same way AIDS was treated in the 80’s. Fortunately I believe hope that there will be some kind of progress made over the next decade but not without a fight first.

It’s hard not to speculate why he did it or what kind of demons he was hiding.

The reason I started this thread was to bring awareness to a guy and his television shows which I found entertaining and enlightening. You can’t call too many tv shows enlightening. I didn’t realize how many here actually found his shows on cable and actually liked it like I did. It wasn’t something you stood around the water cooler and asked your coworker if they saw the last episode of Parts Unknown. Maybe because it had an underlying political feel to the show.

Yes the man bled blue but I never got the impression that he was forcing his political views on his show. Yes he talked about it. Yes he questioned the second amendment but he did it in a way that completely respected the other side.

I heard a report that MN is dissolving it’s crisis hotline.

Calls are routed out of State to people that aren’t aware of local help facilities.

Personally I think there is a lot of help out there IF a person seeks it. Unfortunately most people don’t reach out prior to or in that moment of need. In my non professional opinion.

I didn’t watch much of Anthony’s shows, but I did see it a few times and I didn’t change the channel.

I think the sad reality in Randy’s comparison with cancer patients is that those patients are cash cows for hospitals. They are relatively easy to care for and have a relatively black and white treatment plan. Mental health is completely opposite. It is an incredibly complex web of thoughts, issues, and past events that all tie into one HUGE and terrifying problem, and the patients can be very hard to care for. BUT they are sadly the ones that need the care the most. Healthcare is so money driven right now that I believe it’s one main factor in why cancer patients have an army of doctors running to them, like Randy said, and the individual with mental health issues gets shunned.

Anonymous wrote:

Don’t be that guy G who shoves Vet deaths down peoples throats. Dude died, post came up for people to throw a lil comment on, and that’s it. I’m sure many here give honour and respect in alot more ways than posting an out way comment on a fishing website to show that.

I know a lot of vets that are getting sick of being used as pawns in internet arguments like they are somehow helpless.

BK I have to disagree with you on there being a lot of resources. I interact daily with people experiencing mental health crisis and there are so few resources. They end up in emergency rooms, shipped to far corners of the state (Wisconsin) and even then the majority of treatment they receive is to just get them through the crisis. So the suicidal ideation has temporarily gone but the depression, anxiety, or whatever mental illness they are suffering from is hardly addressed. When word gets out a facility has beds it fills up in hours. It’s bad enough major hospitals in the twin cities area have separate emergency rooms for mental health patients. One of my local hospitals had a schizophrenic patient in the ER for 37 hours due to no available bed in the state. That would never happen to any other type of medical issue.

As far as Bourdain I loved his show and found him very interesting. Mental issues don’t discriminate and sadly he lost his battle.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I think the sad reality in Randy’s comparison with cancer patients is that those patients are cash cows for hospitals. They are relatively easy to care for and have a relatively black and white treatment plan. Mental health is completely opposite. It is an incredibly complex web of thoughts, issues, and past events that all tie into one HUGE and terrifying problem, and the patients can be very hard to care for. BUT they are sadly the ones that need the care the most. Healthcare is so money driven right now that I believe it’s one main factor in why cancer patients have an army of doctors running to them, like Randy said, and the individual with mental health issues gets shunned.

A 4th hospital is being built in my town of 65k. The absolute without a doubt unmet need in this community is mental health resources. This new hospital refused to build a psych unit. All because of money.

Anonymous wrote:

Randy, that is not a welcomed opinion here..

Yep, let’s just put the blinders on and just hope the problem goes away. We obviously see how well that works

Randy Wieland wrote:

The lack of resources in the United States for people with depression, anxiety,….is completely disgusting….. Yet someone reaching out for help with mental illness may have to wait over a year to see a phycatrist.

Are you talking about vets or the general public?

I agree with the stigma and I also think the general public needs some education on what depression really is. A lot of people hear depressed and equate it to being suicidal. I guarantee you a lot more people have some level of depression and don’t even know it.

I doubt the lack of mental help places would have made a difference in this case.

The guy had enough money to seek treatment anywhere in the world.

He chose not to.

General public

Dutchboy wrote:

The guy had enough money to seek treatment anywhere in the world.

He chose not to.

The thing is…people with mental illness often times don’t know it, or not enough to seek treatment on their own.

They used to say “the crazy guy is the only one who doesn’t think he’s crazy”

I have had relatives that have suffered varying degrees of mental illness. It can be difficult to identify, diagnose, and treat (if at all)?

Agreed, Andy. Well said.

Sometimes there just isn’t much that can be done for people suffering with depression and addiction issues. With depression, many times medication is the only real solution, sometimes counseling. But the fact is unless you’ve walked in those shoes personally, you simply won’t know what you’re talking about, in which case it’s easy to say things like, “he chose not to seek help,” or, “there’s plenty of/not enough resources available.”

I thought his shows were interesting, but I wasn’t a huge fan or anything. Regardless, RIP.

AUTO_5 wrote:

Agreed, Andy. Well said.

Sometimes there just isn’t much that can be done for people suffering with depression and addiction issues. With depression, many times medication is the only real solution, sometimes counseling. But the fact is unless you’ve walked in those shoes personally, you simply won’t know what you’re talking about, in which case it’s easy to say things like, “he chose not to seek help,” or, “there’s plenty of/not enough resources available.”

For me, I’ve had a front row seat during the last 12 years to see the realities of mental health care. The spectrum of severity for people varies so much, and individuals can vary so much between highs and lows.
For most people dealing with mental illnesses, it comes down to finding the right combination/dosages of meds, the right phycatrist, and the right therophy for coping skills. It’s nothing like taking meds for other illnesses. Many of the mind altering meds have major side affects and can make huge differences when only changing a 1/10 of a milligram. Think about it.. you can take 1000 milligram of Tylenol for a headache. But 1/10th of a milligram can be the difference of balance or super highs and lows in the way you think.

With all the phycatrist I’ve spoken with and suicide survivors, it’s a very common statement. It’s not the thought of taking their life, it’s that panic moment to stop the symptoms. Imagine not knowing what’s real or fake….or not distinguishing the difference between reality or a nightmare. Hard to even begin to describe it.
We will never know all the facts for A.B., but can imagine the same pattern fell in place. He could have all the money in the world, but if he didn’t connect with the correct combination of all 3 key things for any mental illness, there would not be a favorable solution.

Because treating mental illnesses take so much time, most cases fall to the road side. You see a doctor for being sick, and the visit may take a half hour. Compare to a phycatrist determining which drug/dosages and it can take over a year and multitudes of visits. Many of the mind altering drugs can takes months to start to work or show how they affect that individual.

I feel for the family. The empty feeling of helplessness is nearly indescribable. An individual suffering from various mental illnesses can ask for help, reach out to others, throw huge amounts of money at the problem and not get the correct help they need.
It’s not just vets or celebrities. It’s thousands of people in this country everyday struggling to receive the care they need.

I used to be on anti depressants. I will say up front in my case it was the bottom of the spectrum and very manageable without medication after learning what the symptoms are. I am a little reluctant to say it, not because of the stigma, but because I don’t want to minimize those who truly suffer from it.

I don’t pretend to know how bad it is for people on the other end of the spectrum. However, it has made me very empathetic. I can’t imagine how hard it is waking up to that every day. It goes way beyond just feeling sad, there are plenty of other symptoms that people have to deal with, in fact you may not even feel “sad” at all.

Let’s not forget about the other “illnesses” like anxiety that can be debilitating as well.

We don’t get to shop for the vessels we end up lining in when we are born. We are all wired differently.

I understand that treatment is a very important part of a solution for depression and mental illness. It always bothers me that in regards to any health condition, there is little if any talk about prevention. Billions upon billions are spent (and made for that matter), on research for treatment but little is ever invested in prevention. I truly believe that most of the health problems today are caused by diet and environmental conditions.

I think it’s easy to see why that is. Here’s a hint: $

biggill wrote:

I truly believe that most of the health problems today are caused by diet and environmental conditions.

Man, I wanted to stay out of this one….

First, yes I’m a big Bourdain fan. Loved the show and will miss watching it. It was a kick in the nuts hearing the news.

Now, to your comment. Environmental conditions? You mean like years of heroin and cocaine addiction followed by a lifetime of alcoholism? Yea, that might be a problem. Not judging here at all. But people make choices and those choices can have consequences. It’s the price of freedom.

I don’t think AB wanted any help. Don’t think he wanted any sympathy either. Looks to me like he just got tired of living.

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

Now, to your comment. Environmental conditions? You mean like years of heroin and cocaine addiction followed by a lifetime of alcoholism? Yea, that might be a problem. Not judging here at all. But people make choices and those choices can have consequences. It’s the price of freedom.

I get what you’re saying. I’ve never smoked tobacco once in my life but I find what happened to the tobacco companies somewhat disturbing. We’ve done everything but make it illegal.

The problem lies in the suppression of factual information about the product. When people only have heavily biased information to make a decision, I have a problem with that. The sugar industry has done the same and has resulted in significant health problems in this country with the biggest being cancer. They suppressed studies that proved links between sugar and cancer and obesity.

When I say environmental conditions, it’s a pretty broad statement. Anything from air pollution, to social media, to stress.

Again, treatment is expensive (and profitable). Prevention is not.

I can guarantee you that Facebook and google are well aware of the addiction to mobile devices and is probably more aware of the negative effects. The only thing they want is more clicks.

Let’s not forget…

Deleted: didn’t pertain to mental illness.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

Let’s not forget…

Deleted: didn’t pertain to mental illness.

Not sure I follow. If you’re saying his death didn’t pertain to mental illness, well that’s very debatable. It didn’t pertain to mental illness as we know it.

A huge percentage of violent criminals locked up in prisons have a clinical mental illness. The question you need to ask yourself, which came first? The chicken or the egg.