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Showing Original Post only (View all)Can we talk about alcoholism and Anthony Bourdain? [View all]
I didn't know Anthony Bourdain, but felt like I did in one small important way. In him, I saw a drinking alcoholic with a front-stage vigorous attempt to do it successfully. His was a fantastic life-embracing show, with drinking taking a prominent role in the joie de vivre, and sometimes that made it hard for me to watch.
When he threw back shots, indeed got wasted, I saw a fellow alcoholic living dangerously whereas most viewers, I imagine, saw a man who knew how to drink, knew how to live. His state of mind will be called depression, and who can argue with that in the wake of his suicide. But can we please, people, start connecting the dots to alcoholism (also a disease of the mind), at least when it is screamingly evident?
Perhaps I should not presume to think I know, but I can at least invite the conversation where it is uncomfortably and amazingly absent. Did alcoholism (which brings depression or ineffectively treats depression) ultimately take down Bourdain?
Alcohol is a drug. Drugs and alcohol remain separate in conversations about addiction, like a bad sister doing outrageous unthinkable things while the good sister quietly nurses a prom hangover and shame from a blackout.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-alcoholism-anthony-bourdain-drinking-suicide-0622-20180621-story.html
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Yes. After a heroin addiction it must be hard to find a happy normal. Even years
applegrove
Jun 2018
#20
I saw a picture of him once and he was very, very thin. Alkie was my first thought.
monmouth4
Jun 2018
#7
His show in Chiang Mai, Thailand had me scratching my head. Most of the show was a constant
Fred Sanders
Jun 2018
#10
He was a former heroin and cocaine addict but never heard that he was an alcoholic.
Kaleva
Jun 2018
#23
I think that the creator of the thread was inviting discussion on the more general issue.
Eyeball_Kid
Jun 2018
#26
Basically, if you are an addict, you will replace one addiction with another.
smirkymonkey
Jun 2018
#35
Just yesterday The Atlantic published a review of advances on diagnosing alcoholism
grantcart
Jun 2018
#27