Originally appeared online an in-print in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune June 27, 2014
Because he is behind bars, John LaDue is now free (“On audio, teen coolly tells cops of bomb plot,” June 25). Unlike so many recent murder-suicides, LaDue has the opportunity to find out what’s been killing him before he’s gone — “I think I’m just really mentally ill and no one’s noticed and I’ve been trying to hide it.” How much has to disappear for us to realize the invisible nature of mental illness and take a proactive, preventive approach? Go find yourself and your loved ones a good mental health professional today before tomorrow finds you scratching your head and wondering, like LaDue’s uncle, “What, what, what happened?”

June Thiemann, Minneapolis