Lithgow begs for help to stop suicide ‘crisis’ as eight die

EIGHT suicides since January around the Lithgow area have prompted the local council to beg for help from the state government.

Eight people have died of suicide in as many months.

EIGHT suicides in as many months in one country town has prompted local authorities to beg the state government to help stop the “crisis”.

Lithgow Mayor Stephen Lesslie said his region has been rocked by the deaths, which all happened in the eight months to February this year.

Lithgow Mayor Stephen Lesslie.

The victims were aged between 22 and 35, with all but one of them male.

Mr Lesslie said a lack of mental health services in the area, high unemployment, the struggling coal industry and an absence of mental health education within schools is fuelling the problem.

“Our community is deeply affected by the rising levels of suicide but unsure of how to best respond,” he wrote in an August 25 submission to the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the Prevention of Youth Suicide.

“This is a matter for government to show leadership, offer help, resources and funding. There is no headspace service providing early intervention mental health services for young people in Lithgow.

“Other local services are underfunded and under-resourced. A further concern is that Lithgow Hospital has no dedicated mental health beds.

“The downturn in the mining ­industry and the uncertain future of these ­industries is having a profound effect on this community.”

NSW Health statistics show women in Lithgow intentionally self-harm at a rate of more than 300 per 100,000 population — more than double the NSW rate, while Lithgow men intentionally self-harm at a rate of over 150 per 100,000 population, 50 per cent ­higher than the NSW rate.

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