Post hoc, ergo....

This morning, the TODAY Show (don't ask me why it was on, I loathe the morning shows) did a story about a chef in a New York City area restaurant who killed himself by jumping from the George Washington Bridge. It turns out that three years ago, this fellow came in for some pretty harsh criticism via Gordon Ramsay on the Kitchen Nightmares show. So of course, TODAY's segment focused almost entirely on the Ramsay angle, highlighting the fact that a contestant on Hell's Kitchen also killed herself after her appearance on that show. (Here's a CBS story with details.)

Now, the TODAY segment didn't come right out and imply that Ramsay's harsh criticism was a factor in the suicides, but it didn't really highlight any other thoughts about what might have driven these two people (of hundreds that Ramsay has interacted with on his shows) to suicide. So, did Ramsay's tough words and rants play a role? I'm inclined to doubt it. Take it from someone who knows: the restaurant industry is not exactly a biz where you'll find lots of well-adjusted folks working in low-stress environments.

Come to that, I wonder what the suicide rate is for restaurant workers, anyway. We only heard about these two by virtue of their connection with one of the most famous of all celebrity chefs, after all.