Cluster Suicides

The Welsh town of Brigend, Wales is struggling to deal with a crisis that plagues the world over. Suicide among teens.

The small town of forty thousand has experienced seven suicides in the last few weeks amongst their youngsters with no apparent explanation for them. However, many are blaming the town’s lack of activities for teens, high unemployment rate and rising drug use.

The despair is not surprising to Wills, a lifelong resident who works in a clothing shop and said there is nothing for young people to do except drink alcohol and take drugs. He said even the bowling alley closed recently.

“There’s nothing for anyone to do,” he said with a shrug. “There’s a recreation center for kids, but you have to pay to use it.”

In earlier eras, there was steady work at the coal mines. It wasn’t an easy life, but it could support a family. Now there are fewer opportunities in Bridgend, 165 miles west of London, and in the surrounding valley towns where many of the deaths have occurred.

Source: Apparent suicides shock Welsh town

I believe that one of the major causes of suicide is hopelessness. Having experienced this before, I can tell you that being without hope is the worst possible feeling you could ever have. It immobilizes you. It makes you feel as though everything you have done in the past, are doing now and will do in the future is nothing but an exercise in futility.

The cure of hopelessness, of course, is the infusion of hope. One of the ways to infuse hope into someone is to give them something to do. A purpose. Something to live for. I was listening to Steven Chandler’s 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself on audio and in it he mentioned that studies have shown that in times of war suicide rates go down.

As sad as that is, I think he is on to something. War engages people. It draws them in and assigns them a purpose. Whether that purpose is being on the front lines fighting the enemy or at home reporting about what is going on or camped out on the front lawn of the White House protesting the insanity of it all. People become actively engaged in a “cause” that makes them feel involved and a part of the collective that is humanity.

I’m not saying that the Welsh need to go out and start a war with someone but I think they should look for ways to get the young people engaged in life. Find things for them to do besides hanging around drinking and taking drugs. Get them off of the computer and outside to explore the richness the world has to offer.

Thank the editor. Buy me a coffee!

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