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Ten new pop-up mental health clinics have opened to help NSW residents impacted by the state's extended Covid-19 lockdown amid rising self-harm rates among teenagers.
The Head to Health clinics have been set up at existing primary care or community settings in Sydney, the Central Coast and the Illawarra where residents have been locked down since June.
Most are in the hard-hit western Sydney suburbs where economically disadvantaged communities are suffering about 80 per cent of NSW's Covid-19 cases.
Most of the new clinics are in the hard-hit western Sydney suburbs. Pictured: Lakemba in Sydney's west
The pop up clinics will be further supported by a state-wide intake and assessment phone service staffed by clinicians. Pictured: A Covid-19 testing nurse in PPE
The areas with new clinics, which will be in place until June, are Lakemba, Hurstville, Tuggerah, Kingswood, Thornleigh, Shellharbour, Blacktown, Parramatta, Bankstown and Liverpool.
Lockdowns are having a huge impact on mental health, particularly on young people, with NSW hospitalisations for self-harm or suicidal thoughts among 12 to 17 year olds up 49 per cent in 2021 compared to 2019.
Lifeline is fielding 3,500 calls a day across the country, up from about 2,500 in 2019.
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