Bridgend suicides point to social dislocation

We are equally familiar with the lack of services that exist to address this, particularly for teenagers aged 16 and 17 who fall uncomfortably - sometimes fatally - between adult services and CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services).

A few years ago in Wales, the Children's Commissioner told the Welsh Assembly to "put up or shut up" in his annual report. The Assembly had published a laudable mental health strategy called Everybody's Business, but service availability and delivery remained extremely patchy.

Now it seems the tragedy of the 17 Bridgend suicides is everybody's business - and that includes a national press eager to jump to sensationalist conclusions such as internet cults. In return, others are blaming the media and there is indeed some evidence that excessive media coverage can fuel "copycat" suicides. Strong links between these deaths have yet to be established aside from the fact that they all took place across a significant geographical area within the boundary of Bridgend County Borough Council.