WHEN Bourdain took his life in the middle of a shooting in France, the tributes from all over the world submerged the culinary world in grief and trepidation covered kitchen tops. After all, of all TV chefs, Tony was The Rockstar, the culinary god who brought the realities of the romanticized craft into its unfeigned form by unlocking kitchen secrets.
But his death also fueled the pundits who promptly condemned Bourdain to the deepest depths of the Netherworld. It didn’t matter that Bourdain’s curiosity fueled dialogues that melted cultural barriers and opened us to Parts Unknown. All that we learned from him as he discussed social issues with No Reservations were obliterated because he took his life. Everything magnanimous about Anthony Bourdain that was recognized by award giving bodies became inconsequential for the gloomy Gus and his cohorts.
Post-mortem stories reveal that the diffident Bourdain faced demons that the TV cameras didn’t capture. Early in his life, he became addicted to heroin and though he has kicked the habit, the monsters that lived inside his head would sometimes rear their obnoxious heads. Obviously, in that inauspicious night of June 8 in France, the monsters won over Tony.
The monsters that reside in one’s head have different names--- depression, psychosis, schizophrenia, dementia, etc. The WHO (World Health Organization) has defined mental health as “a state of emotional and psychological well-being in which an individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional capabilities, function in society, and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life.” Though it is an integral and essential component of one’s well-being, this component has been neglected in the public healthcare component. The recent Mental Health Law or RA 11036 “cements the government’s commitment to a more holistic approach to healthcare.”
Accordingly, the law would secure the rights and welfare of persons with mental health needs and mental health professionals; provide mental health services down to the barangays; integrate psychiatric, psychosocial, and neurologic services in regional, provincial, and tertiary hospitals; improve mental healthcare facilities; and promote mental health education in schools and workplaces. This then translates into a more affordable mental healthcare because of increased Philhealth coverage and generate government support. The topic of mental health would also be promoted in schools and such discussion may then lessen the social stigma against people like Bourdain who committed suicide.
Other illnesses manifest symptoms like a dripping nose and fever for someone with flu or itchy and red skin for another besieged by allergies. Mental illness usually does not. Bourdain had no trace of narcotic drug in his body when he died. He skipped dinner and when he didn’t show up for breakfast the next day, someone went up his room. They found his lifeless body hanging by his bathrobe belt and illuminated the fact that mental health is a public health issue. This is still so much like Anthony Bourdain -- to leave us with a food for thought.