And Then There Were None

[dotinthesky]

With the news that another teenager has killed herself in the Bridgend area (bringing the total number of deaths to 17), I'm struck by how these events are starting to resemble a horror movie. I'm thinking of the Nightmare on Elm Street series, where teenagers are attacked by Freddy Krueger in their dreams, and their deaths are then explained as suicides. The chilling fact, for myself, is that 16 out of the 17 young people hanged themselves.

Because they nearly all died in the same manner, there's this lingering impression that they shared a secret we are not aware of (yet). Is there a website which they all went to for suicide tips (such as the initially suggested Bebo)? Is there one person which can be linked to all of them (even if it's one of the first who died?) Or is there some sick desire in each suicide to emulate the previous one, by choosing the same manner of death?

Like some commentators said, it's very likely that a combination of fame-hunger with isolation/depression has sparked the suicides. Kevin told me that when he was in high school, there was a strange spate of suicides amongst twins in his school (only one out of each pair of twin killing himself/herself). While growing up (in Brasil, Singapore and Hong Kong), I never knew of anyone who killed themselves. The few deaths that happened around me were from kids who had crashed their cars while drunk. If I had grown up in a small community (like these Welsh kids, like Kevin) my experience might have been different.

Comments

[naturalbornkaos.livejournal.com]

It uncannily resembles a very strange Japanese film called "Suicide Circle" (aka "Suicide Club").

It does seem REALLY, REALLY weird though. I'm sure there's a far more interesting story behind it than bloody Bebo.

[moveslikegiallo.livejournal.com]

I read something on this the other day that said they're not all from "Bridgend", but the surrounding areas, so it might not be as creepy as it sounds.

Then again, it might be.

I grew up in a small community and didn't know anyone who killed themselves, for what it's worth.

[mirple.livejournal.com]

I can't believe the police say they're not connected. I can't see how they're not! I have only skimmed over the other comments you received, but maybe it is a case of them not being connected in terms of the victims knowing eachother (or have i got that wrong??), but more like a kind of domino effect. I don't know how suicide rates differ between urban and country settings, but I grew up in a village and knew of two suicides. One by hanging and one when a teenage boy lay in the road on a dark stretch between villages and was hit by a car. What strikes me more, and what my twisted mind makes me imagine that they were given some kind of signal, is that in the cases i've read about they were behaving normally hours beforehand.

[vyxle.livejournal.com]

There's a really interesting chapter in Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point about a suicide "epidemic" that affected teens in Micronesia in the 70's and 80's. I wish I could find an excerpt from it online...

[sallypointzero.livejournal.com]

My best friend Alan's cousin is one of the suicide victim's (another girl)l older brothers. He phoned Alan at my place when it happened, and said he was looking at her hanging in a tree at the bottom of the garden. He was in shock of course--she must've been cut down hours before.
There was no behavioural indication that she was depressed or even unhappy. She spent a lot of time online.
I remember thinking at the time that there seemed to be a more sinister, underlying reason as there had been other, similar suicides in the area already, and asking why a common link or cause was not being sought.

[brokenhaze.livejournal.com]

yes i was going to make the exact same comparison except i thought more like a weird horror novel, there's something not quite right.

[psyfi.livejournal.com]

Have you watched a Jap movie called Noroi the Curse? There are scenes where a group of youngsters who met online gathered in a park and committed suicide, by hanging themselves....pretty disturbing.