New Western Sydney mental health facility to target anorexia and teen depression

The new Wentworthville clinic developed by private provider Ramsay Health Care will be part of a $31 million plan to target psychological issues among the boom region’s youth.

Western Sydney will get its own teen mental health clinic under a $31 million plan developed to address growing psychological distress among young people in the region.

The new inpatient facility being developed by private healthcare provider Northside Group, a subsidiary of Ramsay Health Care, will be located in Wentworthville and will provide care for 41 young people aged 14 to 25.

It will offer programs for those suffering major depressive episodes and other diseases including anorexia.

The dining area in the facility being developed by Northside.

Northside Group child psychiatrist Dr John Kasinathan said teenagers today were facing a unique set of pressures.

And while public hospitals could deal with the most extreme and life threatening psychiatric illnesses, Dr Kasinathan said services were lacking in the middle ground.

“We have seen a rise in the last decade in eating disorders particularly affecting adolescents, and the age of onset of eating disorders appears to be getting lower and that’s probably due to the influence of media and things like TikTok,” he said.

“Boys tend to become more oppositional at school, they tend to cause more problems in terms of disruptive behaviours and get into substance abuse.”

The facility will also feature an art studio.

Northside Group CEO Anne Mortimer said unfortunately demand for teenage mental health treatment programs was very strong.

“When we opened the new adolescent program (in St Leonards) in July it was full almost within two days, we knew it was not good but we were quite surprised at the huge demand,” she said.

High school students aged 12 to 17 in the south west and western Sydney local health districts are the most depressed in the state according to the latest NSW Health data from 2017.

The clinic is expected to open in 2023 and Ms Mortimer unfortunately expects the mental health situation for young people to worsen before it gets better due to lockdowns and school closures.

An artist’s impression of an art studio in the new facility. Supplied.

“I think we’re going to see the same sort of demand, it will be taken up very quickly and Covid has created a lot more anxiety and we’re going to feel the legacy of Covid for many years to come,” she said.

A refurbished gym will also be part of the health treatment facility.

Former AMA NSW president and Mt Druitt GP Dr Kean-Seng Lim said cost could be a prohibitive barrier to private mental health clinics for Western Sydney but said the government could take a more holistic view of mental health treatment options.

“Setting up another health facility is probably better than nothing but it can just become another part of a fragmented system,” he said.