You bring up an interesting discussion, though I would still argue suicide is bad.
So in terms of depression, in the west we seem to have decided that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance where as in some other societies it's treated as a need not being met. If your working in an office and your miserable and you wish you had more leisure time and would feel better getting some physical activity, it doesn't make sense to give you a pill when simply not working as much and being able to be more physically active would solve the unmet needs you have and you would no longer be depressed.
The only scenario where I think suicide may be acceptible and even then I'm torn is if someone has a terminal illness that's going to cause a painful death andthere's no positive outlook, then I can kinda get it.
That said with Anthony Bourdain and not saying I agree with this, but I can see it. Anthony Bourdain is an atheist so any of the religious/sin reasons for not committing suicide were not in play for him. He also strikes me as a very level headed guy, doesn't seem depressed to me, has a very stoic outlook on life from what I can tell as an outsider.
I can totally see him being in his right state of mind essentially saying I"ve lived an amazing life, I've done all there is for me to do here, I've seen everything I want to see, I've traveled alot, I'm done. I can totally see him being like that although the one thing that throws that off a bit for me is he does have a wife and a daughter
That's exactly what's missing here: responsibility. What happened to leave love behind? As a parent, untill the very you have responsibility and love to give. Why step out? I just cannot get my head around that. One must be very drugged...
I agree, if he didn't have a wife and kids he does seem like the type of dude who could take his own life without necessarily being depressed, I could just see him kinda being like I lived my life, I've traveled, I've accomplished everything, etc, however seeing as how he has a wife and daughter that doesn't seem likely