Anthony Bourdain Dead at 61

You seem very knowledgable on the subject. Is it always brain chemistry? If it is, then it seems we should be able to measure it, predict it and treat it someday. Do you think this id, ego and superego stuff Freud talks about play any kind of role? Can someone develop a suicidal personality? Does the unconscious mind play a role? If it's chemical, what keeps people who are predisposed chemically to the behavior from not doing it? Is there kind of yin and yang going on in our heads between chemicals and personality?

This article below attempts to quantify the chemical nature of suicide.
The Origins of Suicidal Brains

 

I am knowledgeable about certain aspects of mental ill health issues because I took control of my own and found out all I could - to an acceptable extent, I would say it has worked. I am no expert and if you really want a good scientific response to your thoughtful questions then there are many better equipped than me to provide them.

I wrote that piece very carefully to give reassurance to anyone suffering but stressed the need of professional help.

The brain is very complex (to state the obvious) and everything is possible in the future - depending on how long the future is! One problem currently is that we don't understand enough to be able to provide chemical remedies which themselves do not sometimes interfere with the mechanism we are trying to treat.

The fact that the brain can be affected by so many things does indicate that a 'suicidal personality' could arise - just think of the devastating effects that certain relationships can wreak on a person.

In terms of the 'conscious' and 'subconscious', we are talking about things we are aware of or not - but not of the location. It is still the brain, it is still the brain's chemistry (unless you believe the subconscious is a different form of energy somewhere else).

It is very difficult to know why one person commits suicide and another person does not (given an equivalent amount of anxiety and depression) but perhaps one is just able to hold on that bit longer to give the time needed to recover. Or it could be the amount of energy the sufferer possesses - wanting to end it all but not having the energy to do it (a caution here for those caring for a very depressed person: sometimes they actually commit suicide when they get better - because then they have the energy required to do it).

Anyway, how can be really know how suicidal a person is - we listen to what is said and we observe behaviour, but sometimes we may see and hear only what we are supposed to.

 

There are most time warning signals visible ahead of a potential suicide. But most people are not taking these signs serious. And then they are surprised when the suicide did happens. Better is to get professional help at the first signs.

 

Agree with all of the above and very saddened to read about Bourdain.

Though ‘chemicals’ are found in the brain, strictly speaking they should be described as hormones- of course practically anything has a ‘chemical’ basis.

I don’t think it wise to speculate on Bourdain, so I’ll confine my remarks to suicide in general. Yes, personality factors and hormones; play a role, as do life events, brain structure etc. I think it would be reasonable suggest that depression or suicidality is multi-factorial in causes and there is unlikely to be a single leading explanation. Though not 100% accurate it is possible to anticipate and attempt to head off (rather than predict) suicidal actions. That’s risk management for you - and raft of psychiatric and psychological interventions. Personally I like to think the ‘how to deal with it’ is more important on the ‘what causes it’ - though it is refreshing to understand why treatments work. Think of it as your house being on fire and the wife and kids are trapped upstairs. What do you do? Find the match that started the blaze or call the fire brigade?

Depression is a killer. By 2020 it’s going to be the 4th largest disease burden globally. If you have Depression you are twice as at risk of having a chronic healthcare condition, if you have a chronic healthcare condition you are twice as likely to become depressed. Hence the size of the problem. Luckily it’s fairly easy to treat - but sadly here in the Phils there’s not much of an infrastructure to meaningfully make a difference for most folks.

I agree with our contributor and their impassioned call to get help. Depression causes withdrawal and avoidance - from daily activities, self care, work, family and friends. It’s not just ‘feeling out of sorts’ or miserable. It’s disabling and a killer. Help is out there; most of our patriate government health sites give solid evidence based healthcare advice on what to do and how to treat it. No-one amongst us has to suffer in silence.

Stay well folks.

C

 

You appear to know your stuff but the important chemicals in the brain are not hormones but neurotransmitters - as you know, they create the connections between the neurons. I quote from What causes depression? - Harvard Health: "The ultimate goal in treating the biology of depression is to improve the brain's ability to regulate mood. We now know that neurotransmitters are not the only important part of the machinery. But let's not diminish their importance either. They are deeply involved in how nerve cells communicate with one another. And they are a component of brain function that we can often influence to good ends.

Neurotransmitters are chemicals that relay messages from neuron to neuron. An antidepressant medication tends to increase the concentration of these substances in the spaces between neurons (the synapses). In many cases, this shift appears to give the system enough of a nudge so that the brain can do its job better. "

 

Not quite...there’s a difference between the nervous system and the endocrine system, agreed. In depression there are similarities - hence the “strictly speaking” similarity. Please also note your Harvard link mentioned the treatment of the biology of depression and not the other aspects I mentioned. A biopsycosocial holistic view seems to me to be the most inclusive, if not powerful way of understanding this phenomena. But we are splitting hairs are we not? Depression is a killer and there are good treatments out there, biological, psychological and social. Used in combination they give people a real chance of overcoming this problem. A pill by itself doesn’t stand much of a chance, likewise a psychological approach on its own. Used in combination real recovery is possible - generally speaking.