Second paragraph from the end reads: "She told the judge she has been on medication for depression, and was diagnosed as bipolar in August, 2008."
SSRI Stories note: The majority of people who have been diagnosed as bipolar first started on antidepressants. The antidepressants caused them to become manic and they were then diagnosed as bipolar.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090924/NEWS02/909249983/0/SPORTS17
Postal carrier pleads guilty to stealing mail from customers
Billock-Strahm
BLADE STAFF
A suspended postal carrier from rural Wyandot County pleaded guilty Thursday to 11 federal charges, stemming from her stealing mail from customers along her route, including pre-approved credit card applications that she used to fraudulently obtain goods through the mail.
Marsha Billock-Strahm, 48, of Carey, Ohio, told Judge Jack Zouhary of U.S. District Court that she started intercepting select pieces of mail in 2005, shortly after her father died. That came as a surprise to the judge, because her federal indictment begins with a 2008 time line.
Billock-Strahm, who has been in state custody on a drug charge, said she became depressed by her father's death and turned to drugs, especially crack cocaine. That, in turn, ruined her finances and prompted her to find additional ways of obtaining money, including mail fraud, she said.
"Things just snowballed. It's hard to explain if you haven't been there," she told the judge, who said he will sentence her Dec. 21 after her pre-sentence report is completed.
Billock-Strahm could have faced 30 years in prison. Prosecutors are seeking a minimum of 2 years and one month, according to Seth Uram, assistant U.S. attorney.
She told the judge she has been on medication for depression, and was diagnosed as bipolar in August, 2008.
As part of her plea agreement, she agreed to resign from the postal service within the next seven days