Deaths of chefs by suicide focus attention on mental health in hospitality industry

Source: https://mobile.abc.net.au/

BY TRACY BOWDEN

April 30, 2019

Celebrity chef Matt Moran is the first to admit that his is a tough business.

Key points:

Chef and cafe owner Justin Bull died in February this year

His widow Justine Kendall has urged people struggling with mental health to get help

Chef Matt Moran says the environment in restaurant kitchens is now changing for the better

“There is always pressure,” he said.

“Fatigue probably was the biggest factor years ago, working 90, 100 hours a week, but we also had a sense of achievement by doing that.

“It was about how tough you can be, and how much work you can get done.”

The industry is taking a closer look at mental health after a series of high-profile chefs in Australia and overseas took their own lives.

Mr Moran knew a number of them and was especially close to Justin Bull.

“For anybody that has close friends who commit suicide, it’s a horrible thing, and you ask the question, ‘What could I have done?'” he said.

Was he surprised? “Unbelievably. Was I surprised with Tony Bourdain? Unbelievably. Was I surprised about Jeremy Strode? Unbelievably. No idea, no inkling.”

Mr Bull, 46, had worked as a personal chef to James Packer and Russell Crowe.

Two years ago he achieved a long-time dream and was running his own cafe, Huxton’s, in Sydney’s beachside suburb of Bronte.

But his wife, Justine Kendall, could see the extra pressure was taking its toll.

“The hours are unsustainable. You are on your feet for 16 hours a day. All of a sudden he was dealing with 20 staff … front of house, not just kitchen, paying bills,” she said.

“It just got to a point where it was too much, and he knew he needed help to try and cope.”

Mr Bull suffered from depression and had developed a problem with drugs and alcohol. A stint in a mental health facility late last year was only a short-term fix.

“You just slip straight away back into the pressure,” Ms Kendall said.

If you need to talk to someone, call:

Lifeline on 13 11 14

Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800

MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978

Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467

Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36

Headspace on 1800 650 890

QLife on 1800 184 527

She said that late one night in February, Mr Bull stopped responding to her calls and texts.

“He had gone back to the cafe. I got a phone call in the early hours of the morning from the police … a delivery person had come in and found him.”

Macquarie University’s Rebecca Mitchell, a psychologist who studies workplace health, said the hospitality industry was a “perfect storm” in terms of factors that could undermine mental health.

“You have unsociable hours leading to work-family conflict; aggression and bullying; a competitive, perfectionist, fast-paced environment, and access and norms to allow alcohol and drug use,” Professor Mitchell said.

“I think there are factors in the industry that make it both very difficult for people to speak out about mental health challenges, and also make it more likely that they will face mental health challenges.”

She said “almost 30 per cent of suicides are a consequence of drug and alcohol use, and this is very prevalent in the hospitality industry”.

“It is devastating to hear of another human being who has taken their own life. The only positive I can take out of it is it sometimes shines a light on an issue that really needs some attention.”

Chef Mal Meiers knows the challenges of the kitchen.

“There’s fatigue, and there’s hot and sharp and sweat and fire, and all those sorts of things,” Mr Meiers said.

At 32, and head chef at Subo restaurant in Newcastle, he is now in good shape. But earlier in his career his coping mechanism was alcohol.

“My anxiety turned into depression, and if I had a bad day I would go out and drink till three in the morning. I got into this cycle.

“[It was] the worst perfect storm of circumstances that you could have, I think. And then I hit rock bottom. [I thought] if I just ended it, that I could rest. It scared the hell out of me.”

Mr Meiers phoned his best friend, who convinced him to seek help. He started a mental health program and found a good balance between work and down time.

He also wanted to help others, so started Food For Thought, a charity that holds dinners to promote mental health in the industry. It encourages those who are not coping to speak up, and urges management to be receptive.

“I wanted to create something that could make enough noise to open those blinders up for people who are struggling,” he said.

“I struggled with this for probably seven years before I opened up, and it was only because of what happened that I let somebody in.”

Mr Moran believes the industry is now much more aware of supporting staff.

“It’s not pushed under the carpet anymore, and let people fend for themselves. You’ve got a responsibility to look after your staff as much as you possibly can,” he said.

“I always said, ‘firm but fair.’ But the environment in the kitchen has changed. Gone is that abusiveness or sexism too, because it once was predominantly male, but it’s all changed.”

Suicide prevention charity R U OK is working with the hospitality industry and Food For Thought to develop programs encouraging staff to look out for each other.

“I think there are a lot of people in the industry really trying hard,” Professor Mitchell said.

“We need to do research to understand what can be done and then we need to work with the networks that already exist to make that happen.”

Ms Kendall, who is raising her son Felix without his dad, cannot help wondering if anything could have made a difference when her husband was in such a dark place.

“I know it wasn’t planned. It literally was a spur-of-the-moment thing, when the pain and the chaos was too much,” she said.

“You can go through your mind a million times – could have, should have, would have – but it doesn’t change the outcome.

“You just think about all the things he is going to miss out on and it’s devastating.”

She has a message for people in the hospitality industry and beyond.

“If you are struggling with mental health, please talk to people about it because the impact if you make a decision to end your life, the impact is so far reaching and devastating,” she said.

“Let people know what is going on and how they can help, because people are there to help.”