The Bridgend Suicides

Strange Matters Podcast

Campfire Audio Productions

Science, History, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences

4.4 • 987 Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2017

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode of Strange Matters covers the dark and disturbing series of deaths known as the Bridgend Suicides. Over the course of several years, dozens of people, mostly young adults and teens, would suddenly and without warning take their own lives. Almost of all these deaths were caused by hanging. The story of the Bridgend Suicides spread globally due to the heavy media involvement, as news spread across the world of the mysterious and deadly trend that was plaguing this small Welsh town.

Starting in early 2007, a number of teens were found dead, apparently from hanging themselves in areas around Bridgend, located in South Wales. No one could figure out why the suicides continued one after another. Worried parents grew concerned about their children, scared that they could be next. Making matters worse, the media stirred up more attention and popularity for the events that were occurring in Bridgend, to the point of nearly glamorizing the deaths and making the recently deceased famous in the area. Some believe that all this attention from the media may have led to even more suicides.
Over the years, many have wondered at the cause behind the deaths. Some blame an internet death cult of some kind. Others state the boredom caused by the small town caused depression in the youth. Still more came up with more outlandish explanations. Whatever the cause, the deaths at Bridgend remain one of the most infamous suicide clusters in the modern world.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Oh, Hello everyone and welcome to the Strange Matters podcast. Here at Strange Matters, we discuss everything that is
0:43.8	mysterious, bizarre, and unexplained. I am Sean and I will be the host for this
0:48.6	episode. In this episode I will be discussing a particularly dark and morbid series of events that occurred in Bridgend, located in South Wales.
0:58.0	Over the span of several years, this area suffered from a string of suicides at a much higher rate than normal.
1:05.0	Worse still was that many of the deceased were unfortunately quite young, some in their early teens.
1:12.0	This unusual trend sparked global wide attention as the media caught on and spread the news
1:17.5	about these deaths.
1:19.2	This small Welsh county suddenly became the spotlight of curious people all around the world who were wondering what was causing all these people to suddenly take their own lives.
1:29.0	Though there have been other cases of cluster suicides before, the events at Bridgend are perhaps the most well known in the modern world.
1:37.5	In this episode I will be discussing the events and time surrounding the Bridgend suicides.
1:45.0	Along with this I will be talking about the media frenzy that occurred due to the baffling nature of this story. Also, the views of the family and police
1:51.6	who had to handle this sudden and unwanted
1:53.5	attention will be covered as well. The topic for this episode was suggested to
1:58.1	us by our listeners Stacy and Jackie, so thanks to them for bringing this dark piece of history to our attention.
2:05.0	Also before we get started because this is a pretty heavy topic I want to give a warning that this episode contains disturbing subject matters as it deals with many cases of depression and suicide.
2:16.0	So be advised that this episode may be uncomfortable and upsetting for some listeners.
2:21.6	As for the location, Bridgend is a county borough located in southern Wales, though it is one of the smaller counties in Wales.
2:30.0	It does have a higher than average population and density compared to some of its neighboring regions.
2:35.8	This area would likely have gone unnoticed by most of the world if it wasn't for the events that
2:40.8	occurred in the late 2000ss when seemingly there was an epidemic
2:44.8	like outbreak of suicides that happened over several years.
2:49.2	As of February 2012, there were 79 people from Bridgeton who have taken their own lives over the recent years.
	...

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