We Always Need Someone To Blame , Don't We ?

                                                                          Its hard to believe how far someone would go in their pursuit of being accepted . Its even harder to believe how desperate people can get when faced with depression or tragedy . These are subjects that are so sensitive and so all consuming that when tragedy strikes , its like some desperate prediction you always expected , but would never dream of speaking about . You just don't talk about these things do you ? You just don't confide in a family member or friend , unless of course you see them as being in some way understanding of such a hard road taken .
                                                                         The late Steve Strange of Visage fame , one of the singers in the eighties who could be described as The New Romantic , when describing his type of music was born in Bridgend . Ruth Jones the great comedienne , from Gavin & Stacey fame , and more recently Stella , was born in Bridgend also .
                                                                        Bridgend is a small town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales . Only eighteen miles West of Cardiff the capital and nearly the same in miles East of Swansea . From the outside looking in it would appear to be like any other sleepy town , going through a recession like every other town in the country . But its not like any other sleepy town in the country . This particular town has become notorious for the amount of young people who have committed suicide . The majority of these suicides were hangings , and to date no acceptable explanation for these tragedies has ever  been put forward .

                                                                       The reason I am writing about this is very simple . The other evening my wife and I decided to sit down and watch a movie before we went to bed . To be entertained would have been the reason . Not knowing the outline of what we were about to see , kinda left us both unprepared for the detail and information we were just about to gather . The movie disturbed me ! It left me feeling hollow , so much so I have been thinking about it ever since . I don't think how it effected me , will ever be forgotten .
                                                                       I was introduced to a new word explaining how you would describe a group of suicides . Its called a Cluster . I understood in essence what a Cluster meant , as in a diamond cluster on a ring . But after seeing this film , forever now implanted in my brain will be the word Cluster , and what it refers to .
                                                                      There have been many attempted explanations of why this might have  happened . At the time they blamed phone masts . Electricity pylons . The Internet , you name it they blamed it . But never getting to the real reason why these awful tragedies were occurring . To date there is no accepted explanation . There is no reason . There is no one , or anything to blame . And from experience , we always need someone to blame , don't we ?
                                                                      To try and understand why something like this happens , because you may be unlucky enough to have it happen within your family , is like trying to understand why one person makes the choices they make compared to the next person . There is no understanding . There are no indicators that would have you watching out for certain signs in your quest to prevent the unpreventable . All of these lives that were lost , you would like to think were preventable . If you ask bereaved family members could something have been done to stop such a tragedy happening , the majority would probably say , they were dealing with stressful situations , but nothing more than the usual . It came to most as a shock and a total surprise . The thing is there is no prevention to suicide . If someone wants to do it they will . We can help , all of us as much as we can . But in the great scheme of things , some people are just not strong enough emotionally . That's not your fault or anybody else's , its just a fact .
                                                                      Bridgend , and its notorious history , is not as uncommon as you might expect . If you look into that terrible subject , you will find it is happening everywhere . There is as I said earlier no reasoning for it . All that we can do is hope it never visits our families , or our towns and cities . Because if it does , like everywhere that has gone before , there will be no meaningful or acceptable explanation . There but for the grace of whoever , Go I !