Parents connect son's death to sudden psychosis, turn to help mental health outreach efforts
By Neil Nisperos
Staff Writer
CHINO HILLS -- The struggle and sorrow is ever-continuing for David and Linda Tennies.
Staff Writer
CHINO HILLS -- The struggle and sorrow is ever-continuing for David and Linda Tennies.
The couple has been grieving for months over the loss of their only son, Jason. The 20-year-old suffered an apparent psychological break from reality in the five days leading up to his death on Sept. 25.
The incident came less than a week after Jason began to exhibit behaviors not consistent with his personality, his parents said. "He would curl up on the couch and he would be sobbing, and he would say, 'Mom and Dad, what's going on?'" Linda Tennies said.
"I don't understand. Am I losing my mind? Am I going insane? What's going on? And we'd hug him, and comfort him and say, we love you. We're going to help you."
Jason Tennies was hit and killed by an oncoming vehicle in front of Crossroads Park at Chino Hills Parkway and Eucalyptus Avenue.
Jason Tennies was hit and killed by an oncoming vehicle in front of Crossroads Park at Chino Hills Parkway and Eucalyptus Avenue.
He had just left his parents' house to go for a walk in the middle of the night.
According to a San Bernardino County coroner's report, Jason had been standing in the middle of the road when he was hit by a sport utility vehicle traveling westbound on Eucalyptus Avenue.
According to a San Bernardino County coroner's report, Jason had been standing in the middle of the road when he was hit by a sport utility vehicle traveling westbound on Eucalyptus Avenue.
The death was ruled accidental, and nothing indicated that it was a suicide, according to the coroner's office.
Jason had never experienced any signs of mental illness in the five days leading up to his death, his parents said.
A lead guitarist and songwriter in several bands, Jason wanted to continue his musical ambitions. He also was expecting an acceptance letter to San Francisco State University to study business, his parents said.
But Jason's behavior changed in the days leading up to his death.
The young man suffered delusions, hallucinations, rambling speech, agitation and paranoia. The actions were consistent with the mental disorder schizophrenia, his parents said.
The young man suffered delusions, hallucinations, rambling speech, agitation and paranoia. The actions were consistent with the mental disorder schizophrenia, his parents said.
The Tennies said it is clear that Jason succumbed to a sudden onset of a mental illness.
In the days prior to his death, Jason had told his parents of discussions that he had with deceased musicians, such as Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison.
Jason also started going on frequent walks near his home and reported seeing colors in the music he played.
Toward the end of the five-day episode, the Tennies said Jason began to express paranoia. He told his parents that they were "messing with him," and asked if he could trust them.
Despite the strange behavior, the Tennies said the familiar Jason they knew would occasionally resurface and express deep distress.
The ordeal started on Sept. 20 when the couple said they started to see signs that something was wrong with their son.
Earlier that day, Jason was supposed to attend school at Mt. San Antonio College, but he told his parents he wasn't able to get out of his car. He instead went to an impromptu jam session with a fellow musician and returned to the Tennies house.
Linda came home to find the house's alarm box shattered on the floor.
She remembers a bizarre, unconcerned demeanor on Jason's face. He told her to "not worry" and "just chill."
The strange behavior led Linda to think Jason was on drugs.
She informed David, who cancelled his work appointments and returned home. David told Jason that he was taking his son to get drug tested.
"He was acting like somebody on LSD is the best way to describe it," David said.
David said Jason continued to behave strangely on the way to an area hospital. At the hospital, Jason tested positive for marijuana, but nothing else.
A doctor said if the behavior was caused by marijuana, it would wear off in a couple of hours.
"When we pulled up to the house, Jason said, 'I don't understand what's going on,' and he was upset and crying, but he was still spacey, even when he was upset," David said.
That night, David said his son hinted at suicidal thoughts. Jason told his father he was feeling horrible about what was happening and that he ought to kill himself.
The next day, David knew Jason had more than a case of marijuana intoxication. Jason was still not his usual self, and David took him for a psychiatric evaluation at a Covina hospital. Jason also dismissed the suicide comment.
"He said, 'Oh, I was just upset and I didn't really mean anything by it,'" David said. "The psychiatric people were just like, OK."
David and Linda said they are bothered by the evaluation questions and felt hospital personnel should have probed further to identify any risk.
"There was nothing like indirect questioning to get an insight into a person's thought process," he said. "It was as though they were talking to a perfectly rational person who wasn't having psychiatric challenges. It was just ridiculous."
Hospital staffers told David they didn't think Jason was a risk to himself or others.
After the evaluation, Jason was referred to the Foothill Psychological Services in Chino for outpatient therapy and an appointment was scheduled for Thursday.
On Sept. 22, Jason quit his job as a learning center tutor and dropped his classes at Mt. San Antonio College. David asked Jason to surrender his car keys on Wednesday.
"I don't need school anymore," Linda remembers Jason saying on that day. "All I need is my music. All I want to do is play my music and write my music."
On Thursday, David took Jason to meet with Steve Garmin, a doctor with Foothill Psychological Services.
On Thursday, David took Jason to meet with Steve Garmin, a doctor with Foothill Psychological Services.
David said Jason gave him "a dirty look" when he walked out of the psychologist's office.
"He felt like I was forcing him to see the psychologist," David said.
After the appointment, David called the clinic back and asked if they could let him know if Jason was at risk in any way. David said clinic employees never returned his calls prior to Jason's death.
Despite laws prohibiting confidential information being shared between mental health doctors and family members, the Tennies said the clinic should have allowed them to share their observations of Jason's behavior.
"We could have told them what we were seeing from our perspective, and they could only see what they were hearing from him," Linda said. "We know they don't have to divulge what he said to them, but they needed to listen to what we were seeing at home. That would have been beneficial."
Recently, Garmin and Terry Chase, the head of Foothill Psychological Services, met with the Tennies who relayed their anger over not being able to share information with them.
Terry Chase said there was no legal prohibition barring the Tennies from sharing information with hospital staff. But, he said, the practice of family members sharing information about a patient with a therapist may undermine the trust and rapport the therapist is trying to build with a patient.
Chase said the group would discuss whether to implement the Tennies' suggestions for change.
"We're always looking at what we can do, and if everything can be done differently," Chase said. "The Tennies had some good ideas. We're trying to see what we can ethically and appropriately do differently so that this never happens again, but it's hard. In fairness to the clinician involved, it's a very, very difficult call."
Linda said she remembers the last time she saw and spoke to her son. It was after
Jason had come home from a walk at 12:30 a.m. Sept. 25. She was watching television, and Jason sat down next to her.
"He was rambling and looked agitated, and I just kept telling him, 'We're going to get a hold of this,'" she said. "We're going to fix this."
Linda told Jason she loved him and gave him a hug before they both went to bed.
A little after 2 a.m., the Tennies woke to the sound of the house alarm, indicating Jason had gone for another walk.
A little after 2 a.m., the Tennies woke to the sound of the house alarm, indicating Jason had gone for another walk.
"Because he had gone for walks so much, we just thought he needed to go out for another walk to clear his head again," David said.
Jason's body was soon found. He had gone for the walk in his pajamas and slippers, his parents said.
His acceptance letter from San Francisco State University would arrive one month after his passing.
While Jason may not have had the time needed for proper care, the Tennies said it's now their goal to educate and help others about mental illness.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 2.4 million American adults, or about 1 percent of the adult population in a given year have schizophrenia.
The mental illness affects both genders with equal frequency, and it often appears in men in their late teens or early 20s, while women are generally affected in their 20s or early 30s, according to national data.
"One thing we did find about schizophrenics, if they have an acute episode, so many of them end up in jail, and you look at the statistics, you see them in jail and institutions," David said. "Many of the people on the streets are schizophrenic or have some other kind of psychosis."
Mental illness on the whole is common among the world's population, with about one in four -- 26 percent -- adults who suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, according to the NIMH.
The prevalence of mental disorders were evident when the Tennies received a number of letters from friends and acquaintances recounting how their own lives had been impacted by mental illness.
"What gets us so motivated to want to do something after this happened with our son, we found person after person that we know that has a brother, a child a nephew, a cousin, who is suffering from mental illness of one sort or another," David said.
"We found that often they're ashamed of it, and they don't understand this is a disease, no different from cancer."
Too often, the Tennies said, people blame themselves or their loved ones instead of seeking help. Too many people, they said, don't get the help they need.
"People look at this stuff as if it's a fault," Tennies said. "It's as if they say, 'I'm not strong enough, I need to pull myself up, and I need to be tougher' but it has nothing to do with that. When it gets to the point where you can't deal with day-to-day activities in one form or another, you're dealing with a disease and people are ashamed of it. The shame has to go away."
Mental health patient recovery and advocacy are major goals shared by two established national organizations, Mental Health America and the National Alliance for Mental Illness, which both exist to eradicate the stigma of mental illness and to provide support for those impacted. Both have branches in the Los Angeles region.
"Advocacy is so very important," said Julia Scalise, chief development officer for Mental Health America of Los Angeles.
"Advocacy is so very important," said Julia Scalise, chief development officer for Mental Health America of Los Angeles.
"It's important that people have a greater awareness about mental illness as well as good mental health practices. Certainly mental illness is a treatable illness. Our goal is to help people with mental health problems live a healthy life and be active in their communities, and for them to know that this is possible."
Wayne Baldaro, a member of the Los Angeles area chapter of NAMI, agreed.
Baldaro's organization provides 12-week educational program for families on how to deal with mental illness. Like, MHA, NAMI also does outreach into the greater community to educate people on what mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, and depression, look like. He said the more people are educated, the more they seek help.
"Once you develop empathy and compassion, the stigma and shame dissipate," Baldaro said. "There's a lot of misunderstanding and stigma."
Every year, NAMI holds an annual walk in Santa Monica to raise awareness and funds for mental health help and advocacy. The Tennies said they want to help start a similar outreach event in the Inland Empire region and plan on talking to regional leaders for aid.
"What we want to see come out of this is I'm going to talk to the the city councils in Chino and Chino Hills and with Mental Health America to get an event here in the Inland Empire," David Tennies said. "Maybe we can get a regional event going because awareness needs to get out there."
The Tennies have also decided on the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression as a charity where people can donate to schizophrenia research in memory of Jason.
To donate, visit http://tinyurl.com/NARSADdonate.
Donors should include the statement, "In Memory of Jason Tennies," in the online form.
Donors should include the statement, "In Memory of Jason Tennies," in the online form.
For assistance from Mental Health America, call 213-413-1130.
MHA also provides an after-hours support service "warm line" at 888-448-9777 or by visiting www.mhala.org.
MHA also provides an after-hours support service "warm line" at 888-448-9777 or by visiting www.mhala.org.
For more information about mental illness, visit www.mhala.org, www.NAMI.org or www.narsad.org.
neil.nisperos@inlandnewspapers.com, 909-483-9356
Below are videos of Jason performing in his former band Forewalls.
The video preceding the story was made by Liza Agsalud and a friend from "Photos Brushes and Jams" (PB&Js) in Pomona. It's the practice studio where Jason jammed and played, and it's where friends held the tribute and fund raiser for Jason on Oct. 2nd.
This song is awesome!!! Would have definitely had his five minutes of fame someday
This is a tragic story. Hopefully it will lead to some better awareness for folks with this condition. My sympathies to this family.
To the family of Jason,
My heart goes out to you for your loss. We too lost our 15-year-old nephew to mental illness in January. You son, Daniel Dim, found our facebook page (Colton Fink Memorial Page) and posted your organization’s link.
In reading your story about Jason you mention his pot smoking. If you Google marijuana and psychosis you will see that it can lead to mental breakdowns such as your sons. Many hospital emergency workers know this, and direct their patients to mental health facilities for immediate treatment.
I believe this is what triggered our nephew Colton. He was only twelve when he started smoking pot, and after a 30-day binge he made his first attempt at a drug overdose. He was never the same; made two other attempts on his life, he lost his youth, his brain, and eventually his life from his “experimentation” with pot.
The THC in pot is only getting stronger, creating more victims of mental illness. For some people THC opens the door to mental illness. It is like playing the high risk “game” of Russian roulette, sitting around in a circle passing a joint, you don’t know who is going to get the bullet, but eventually someone will. Our nephew did, three years later, when he finally stood in front of a train to stop the craziness in his brain that could no longer think and feel rationally.
I hope with public awareness that people will become more aware of the risks involved, especially in the young developing brain which is much more vulnerable to being permanently and adversely affected by smoking pot.
Good luck with your organization, and raising awareness, we are trying to do the same.
As ever,
Jennie Gisslow