Fishers City Councilman Todd Zimmerman explained how Scott Fadness began talking to him about a mental health initiative the night election returns showed Fadness would become Fishers’ first mayor in November 2014. The mayor began laying the groundwork for the Fishers Mental Health Initiative before he took office as mayor, while he was the Fishers Town Manager.
Since 2014, Scott Fadness has been working on moving forward with the initiative. He provided updates from the police and fire departments, the local schools and the city’s efforts to publicize the initiative. Fadness gave the quarterly update on the initiative to a packed crowd at Fishers City Hall Tuesday afternoon.
The mayor described recent statistics that show suicide rates are down throughout the world over the past 20 to 30 years, with a few exceptions. The United States is one exception, which shows an increase. Indiana rates very low in the mental health condition of its residents and available assistance to address those mental health conditions, according to Fadness.
Initiatives now before state lawmakers in this legislative session were highlighted by the mayor.
“We also find ourselves in a time of economic disruption,” said Fadness. “We see rural America changing. We see suicide rates among farmers going up.”
It is up to government to find systems and get them into place to help those suffering as a result of the very big changes, the mayor explained.
Mental health has become more of a public issue in recent years. Even Lady Gaga is on board. But Fishers has been on board for many years, and the journey continues.