Letter to the Editor: Understand depression

On Friday it was reported that a woman robbed a bank in Sidney. When the case was unsealed, the public was made aware that she had Post Partum Depression.

It is rare that a crime can be attributed to just one cause. We do not know everything that led to the robbery. We don’t know about her personal life, her monetary situation, if she was being treated and the list goes on. Why then would they violate her privacy and mention a disease she had. Mental illness is a disease. Diabetes is too. If she was diabetic, maybe she was trying to get money for her insulin because she had a $5,000 deductible.

It is no different when the chemical imbalance is in your brain and not your pancreas. It’s not reported when people have high blood pressure, cancer or electrolyte imbalances. Mental illness is often misunderstood and has a stigma. How it was reported adds to this and shows that society needs more education and an understanding of this disease.

She will be accountable for her actions by a jury of her peers, but may we choose our words carefully to show that we understand. She shouldn’t be judged before she gets to court.

Kristen Palser

Scottsbluff

[Editor’s note: The FBI affidavit the letter refers to included references to depression and post partum syndrome. A statement to authorities by the accused bank robber alleges that depression was a cause.]