It is said that parents are only as happy as their least happy child. If so, the burden of Nick Reiner’s struggles must have weighed heavily on his parents, Rob and Michelle Reiner.
Even without knowing what demons tortured Nick, I’m sure that the Reiners did everything possible to help their son overcome his psychological difficulties, but it just wasn’t enough.
However, the failure was not theirs.
Rather, it was the contemporary social environment in which youth are raised today, including an overly permissive society that de-emphasizes personal responsibility and a media-driven culture infused with salacious and violent content and misinformation.
The addition of ready access to recreational and addictive drugs creates a toxic brew capable of causing psychological disturbances for which the mental health profession doesn’t have a proven antidote.
Thus did the Reiner family become tragic victims of the mental health crisis affecting America’s youth.
Whatever Nick’s early difficulties were, his addiction to opiate and stimulant drugs hijacked his brain and made Nick a different person.
The Nick Reiner that killed his parents was not the son they had raised, but someone else transformed by the perils and temptations to which America’s youth are now exposed.
Our sympathies and prayers go out to the Reiner family.
