"So was it really schizophrenia?": Psychiatrist Dr Josef weighs in on what affected Nick Reiner amid Rob Reiner murder saga

As the investigation into Nick Reiner's involvement in the death of Hollywood filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, continues, new scrutiny is being placed on Nick's mental health history. Nick Reiner has been charged with two counts of murder.

Authorities have confirmed that Nick Reiner, 32, had been prescribed medication for schizophrenia prior to the deaths, though details about the drug and its duration remain unclear, according to the report by the Los Angeles Times on December 21, 2025. Against that backdrop, psychiatrist Josef Witt-Döring released a detailed video analysis questioning whether schizophrenia alone explains Reiner’s behavior, or whether medication effects and substance history may have played a critical role, saying

“I know, you know, when I looked online, I know that Nick had used some methamphetamine in the past. It could have been another drug that's known to cause psychosis. So was it really schizophrenia? Or was this a drug induced issue?”

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More about Nick Reiner’s schizophrenia diagnosis

In a YouTube video posted December 21, 2025, Dr. Witt-Döring, a board-certified psychiatrist and former FDA drug safety expert, said he was skeptical of a schizophrenia diagnosis emerging at age 32. He noted that schizophrenia typically presents much earlier, especially in men, often in the late teens or early twenties.

According to Witt-Döring, Nick Reiner’s long history of substance abuse complicates the clinical picture and raises the possibility that drug-induced psychosis or medication side effects were misinterpreted as schizophrenia.

Witt-Döring cited reports that Reiner’s behavior became increasingly erratic and dangerous in the month leading up to the killings, during which his psychiatric medications were repeatedly adjusted while he was in and out of a high-end Los Angeles treatment facility. He emphasized that such medication changes, particularly involving antipsychotics, can sometimes worsen agitation, impulsivity, and aggression rather than stabilize patients.

Drawing on published research and drug labeling, Witt-Döring pointed to known risks associated with antipsychotic medications. He argued that the timing of Nick Reiner’s behavioral changes, combined with the absence of a documented history of violence toward his parents, raises questions that will likely be explored in court. According to Witt-Döring, determining whether Reiner’s symptoms were characteristic of schizophrenia or instead represented an adverse drug reaction will be central to the case.

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More details about Nick Reiner’s struggles with substance abuse were reported by PEOPLE on December 22, 2025. Actor Michael Douglas said he and Rob Reiner had spoken “a lot” about parenting sons with addiction issues, describing the emotional strain Reiner faced behind the scenes. Friends also told PEOPLE that Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner pursued extensive treatment options for their son and never gave up hope that he would stabilize.

Publicly, Rob Reiner had said as recently as September 2025 that his son had been sober for more than six years and was “in a really good place.” Yet investigators and sources cited by the Los Angeles Times say Nick Reiner continued to struggle with mental health challenges and had been prescribed schizophrenia medication before the killings.

Forensic experts expect the trial to examine whether Reiner’s conduct in the weeks before the deaths represented a dramatic departure from his baseline personality. Witt-Döring noted that schizophrenia is more often associated with withdrawal and blunted affect, rather than sudden aggression and impulsivity. At the time of press, there are no further updates regarding the diagnosis in the investigations.

Edited by Devangee