During the discussion, Rerras said he believed mental illness was caused by demons, according to Armstrong and another person who heard the conversation...That's just straight up crazy. This guy is a state senator?! The original diary after the flip.]Rerras also said he believed that God may be punishing families by giving children mental illnesses, according to the other person who heard the conversation.
Recent events at Virginia Tech underscore the fact that Virginia is tragically behind the curve in its understanding and treatment of the mentally disabled. Indeed this tragedy has "given new urgency to calls to reform the state's mental health system." Investigations are underway by both the Virginia Tech Commission and the Supreme Court Commission on Mental Health Law Reform.
The impetus for needed change will soon turn to the General Assembly. However, in repeated comments, Nick Rerras has revealed himself as unworthy of this important task. Rerras is possessed of a complete disregard for the disabled.
In both 2000 and 2003, Nick Rerras in the audience of local community services boards and mental health advocates spurted out his bizarre beliefs on the origin of mental illness. Nick Rerras repeatedly stated that he believed mental illness was caused by demons and that God may be punishing families by giving children mental illnesses. (Source)
Advocates have made their concerns public in recent weeks. They say they tried to work with Rerras during his first term as senator but feel he will never be their advocate.Kathy Weaver, president of the Norfolk chapter, said the remarks reinforced the stigma against the mentally ill. It's a lack of sensitivity, she said. These people are generally forgotten.
Advocates also say the senator's remarks on two separate occasions, three years apart displayed an ignorance of mental health issues at a vital junction in Virginia's care for the mentally ill.
"William L. Hathaway, director of the psychology department at Regent University in Virginia Beach, said the idea of demonization that mental illness is caused by demons is an extreme position even for conservative Christians", the VP article continues. "But psychological problems are rooted in biological and social causes, he said. To attribute serious psychological disorders to demons, he said, 'does a great injustice to the mentally ill.'
At this critical juncture, we can ill afford an elected representative so ignorant of the needs and unrealized potential of the mentally ill.
Why was someone with this documented record of ignorance and insensitivity to the needs of the disabled placed on these important committees?
Or another theory might be that Rerras is a demon himself. Cheney has recently been (correctly) called the devil incarnate. Many people do give the same meaning to the words demon and devil. It would then follow that Rerras is also the devil incarnate.
Recognizing that it would take too long to get Nick committed, the obvious conclusion is that the most efficient solution is to vote him out of office so he can help Pat Robertson think of more idiotic things to say.
T.C.
On another note, the law will never be changed to permanently commit anyone, that's unconstitutional and dangerous to all of us. But 180 days for calling folks possesed seems fair to me...:)
Family pushes for changes in state mental health system
http://content.hampt...]
A call for help. A police officer, not a mental health screener, responds. No indication as to whether emergency services even bothered to contact the mental health screener, since it would be absolutely fruitless. As usual, there are no psychiatric beds in this part of the state. Why waste everybody's time? The mentally ill individual, a 59 year old grandmother who is hallucinating and hearing voices, pushes a lamp shade down stairs (what a dangerous criminal!), and is arrested, not taken for treatment. She is jailed, and the rest is history. She now has a criminal record, not the treatment and help that she should have immediately received for this fairly common mental health crisis.
What you are talking about is not commitment hearings but how people aren't educated in our commitment laws in this state and don't use them nor follow them. Calling the police is stupid when someone is in an MH crisis, yes, it will lead to an arrest, unless the officer is one of the few with CIT training, police officers job is to arrest people, what do you expect? I didn't go read the link because I have heard too many of these stories. If someone is doing so poorly that they need hospitalization, family members can go to their CSB and get a Temporary Detention Order. If the CSB in your area is not following the law, then complain about the CSB to someone, don't complain about the law. We have a gravely disabled prong that covers just about anyone who is seriously mentally ill in this state.
I love it when people choose to just not believe in statistics that don't fit their agendas.
And I'm not complaining about the law. The law is more than adequate to cover these problems. In fact, the law specifically prohibits housing the mentally ill in jails. The law's not being followed. Mental health screeners are not responding to emergency calls, as they are required to, by law. People are NOT being involuntarily committed when they meet the criteria, as the law requires, because there are no beds. In fact, I have seen situations (note the use of plural) where the MAGISTRATE advised a family member SEEKING A TDO to call the POLICE.
I'm sure you are very familiar with these stories. So is everyone who has any experience in this area at all, as they are an unfortunate and unnecessary everyday occurrence. You need to figure out what they mean.
People who have mentally ill family members can hardly be described as uneducated or stupid. They get a very rude, very hard education each and every time a crisis occurs, an education in how little their government thinks of them as citizens and of their family members as human beings worthy of respect, dignity, stabilization, and treatment.
I am very familiar with the system in three major areas of the state: Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and Richmond. This is true in all 3, and unfortunately appears to be true in Blacksburg as well, given recent events.
I choose not to believe in statistics that do not fit reality, and the sad reality is that the majority of the mentally ill in crisis do not even reach the TDO stage. Therefore, these supposed involuntary commitment statistics are beside the point. The unstable mentally ill are not in the mental health system that is supposed to protect them, they are in the criminal justice system, and are being punished, not treated, for their illness.
We need accountability from CSB's to the Department and to citizens. We have never had this that I am aware of, correct me if I am wrong please. We need 24/7 emergency services that are actual emergency services, not an answering service. We need timely appointments and prioritizing people most in need instead of making everyone wait 3 weeks or more for a first appointment. We need crisis stabilization units in every town and county, not just the very few we finally have now. And these units need to be willing and able to take TDO's of all sorts, not cherry pick who they will accept, just as hospitals need to stop cherry picking who they will admit to psych. units as they do at the hospital I know best.
We need crisis prevention above all else because right now we are acting as if crises just happen out of nowhere and are unrelated to the lack of choice and quantity of services in the community. We don't even have adequate day programs nor counseling in most areas of the state, something most states have at a mininum. We don't have any programs to reach out to people who are unsure if they want services or not as they do in other states, programs that have been shown to work very well. We have only one Housing First program in this state that I know of.
The statistics are valid, and I think reflect the utter lack of alternatives and prevention in this state.
Mental health advocates: Senator blamed demons for mental illness
539 words
1 November 2003
05:39 PM
Associated Press Newswires
English
(c) 2003. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - Mental health advocates contend state Sen. D. Nick Rerras has said at least twice since 2000 that he believes mental illness is caused by sin and demonic possession, a claim Rerras denounced Saturday as false and desperate election-eve politics.
The Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported Saturday that the conservative Christian Republican made such comments in the presence of people closely tied to mental health organizations.
The newspaper said the mental health advocates raised the issue three days before Tuesday's legislative elections, in which Rerras seeks re-election to a second term over Democratic challenger Andy Protogyrou.
Rerras, in a telephone interview between campaign stops, said the charges were flatly untrue and that he was angered by their timing.
"I've always supported mental health programs, and I think they're on the verge of slander in accusing me of things that I've never said. I never made the statement that they say I did. I never said mental illness or mental health problems are from demonic possession," Rerras said.
The newspaper said the first comments were made in a conversation at a January 2000 breakfast banquet for community service boards from across the state. As the state gradually shifts its mental health services from centralized institutions to small, local agencies, the boards coordinate the services for patients.
Bob Armstrong, a member of the Norfolk Community Services Board and the father of a child with mental illness, and another person the newspaper did not identify were sitting near Rerras when the discussion turned to mental illness, the newspaper said.
According to Armstrong, Rerras said he believed demons caused mental illness and said that God may be punishing families by making their children mentally ill, the report said.
Neither Armstrong nor the other participant are associated with the Protogyrou campaign.
Rerras disputed the account.
"I asked a question: 'Could some forms of multiple personality disorder have some form of spiritual origin?' I asked the question, and that was it. I made no assertion that any mental illness is the result of demonic possession," he said.
In June, Honey Biberman, a Norfolk resident who is active in the local chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, said she asked Rerras if he still believed mental illness was caused by spirits, and Rerras restated his belief that mental illness had spiritual origins, the newspaper said.
The newspaper said Rerras said in an interview that he did not remember precise details of the conversation with Biberman, but said demons could be a possible component of mental illness.
Rerras' voting record is not hostile toward mental health initiatives. In 2002, he sponsored legislation that clarified the services provided by the community services boards. He has voted with the majority on most all the mental health bills considered during his four years in the Senate.
"I've supported every mental health program we have had. I've toured the facilities. I've been an advocate," Rerras said.
"Here they are just three days before an election saying these things while no one at that table has brought this up to me in the four years since then," Rerras said.
Yikes.