Update on LeRoy NY Tourette's outbreak: more victims, including an adult, new town involved too

On January 20, 2012 I reported that a strange thing was occurring in upstate NY at the town of LeRoy. A dozen girls had suddenly taken sick with Tourette's-like symptoms. The girls began twitching, having seizures, and manifesting other strange tics and body movements. Medical causes have been hard to find. The school and town tested public buildings for environmental reasons and came up empty. The girls say that though "severe stress" has been touted as a possible cause, that they are not stressed, and doctors, stumped, proclaimed that it is likely a conversion disorder, otherwise known as mass hysteria or mass psychogenic illness.

In that blog entry I said that a spiritual reason didn't seem to have been explored, and while not knowing the state of their belief in Jesus, that it could be a demon infestation.

The news says: "The mystery illness surfaced several months ago when 12 girls who had been attending the Le Roy high school began to display tics and involuntary verbal outbursts. Both the state and the local school district did extensive testing of the school grounds to see if there might be any signs of an infectious disease or some toxin the girls might have come in contact with. All those tests came back negative." (source)

The diagnosis of mass hysteria is so unusual (these days, but remember Salem Witch mass hysteria in 1682?), that NINDS organization is now involved in the case.

"The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NINDS, is currently conducting research on conversion disorders and is running a clinical trial to investigate uncontrollable shaking in people who have no known underlying brain or medical disorder." (source)

Well, here is an update:

The first update is that the famous environmental lawyer Erin Brokovich (yes, that Julia Roberts movie Erin Brokovich) has gotten involved and is attempting to see if there is an underlying environmental cause, So far she has found that thirty years ago a chemical accident from a train derailment spilled some toxic chemicals into the ground. However, that was thirty years ago and the train accident was near but not so near the school and the neighborhood where the girls live. Unfortunately, of the original girls who have come down with this, their symptoms are worsening.

Secondly and more ominous is now it seems that more teens have come down sick. Other kids, including one boy, have now began manifesting the same symptoms. Worse news is that they are not all in LeRoy but are from other towns in NY. New outbreaks are occurring in places like Corinth NY, 250 miles to the west of LeRoy.

"Mystery illness gaining national attention"
"The number is now more than two dozen girls, all with Tourettes like symptoms, including twitching, jerking and vocal ticks. As our health reporter Marcie Fraser reports, the case spans New York State and is gaining national attention."

The article above notes that the girl in Corinth who came down with symptoms stopped to eat dinner in LeRoy after an away game, but the same article notes that she began manifesting symptoms in May 2011 and didn't stop to eat dinner in LeRoy until July, eight weeks later. "The NYS Department of Health has released this statement, saying in part, “DOH reviewed both the epidemiology and the clinical evaluations and found no evidence of environmental or infection as the cause of the girls’ illness.."

Number of students with Tourette's symptoms grows
"The number of students across New York State -- from Genesee County to Saratoga County -- who have now come down with Tourette syndrome symptoms continues to grow. The figure now stands at 17. In addition, for the first time, it's not just girls who have been affected. A boy from western New York has become the latest victim. The number of students from Le Roy High School in Genesee County who have now been confirmed with conversion disorder is 15 -- 14 of them girls and now one boy. It is not clear at this time if there's a connection to the two teenage girls from Corinth in Saratoga County who have displayed similar tics and involuntary movements."

Lori Brownwell is one of the LeRoy girls who first came down with the mystery illness. She has been making videos to chronicle the changes in her life. Her YouTube channel is here.

On that channel in her latest video, Miss Brownwell makes note that a new person in LeRoy is starting to show symptoms, a "very reputable adult female and it is quite a shocker..."

I want to say something and I am eager for it not to be misunderstood. I have no idea of the spiritual condition of the girls. But here is what the bible says:

If a person is not in Christ, they are in satan. (Matthew 12:30). Satan is god of this world, blinding the minds of those who are not in Jesus (2 Cor 4:4) and he and his minions attack, delude, harass, scheme, and fight against all who are on it and even struggle against the obedient angels, too.

"Satan and his demons now look to destroy and deceive all those who follow and worship God (1 Peter 5:8; 2 Corinthians 11:14-15). The demons are described as evil spirits (Matthew 10:1), unclean spirits (Mark 1:27), and angels of Satan (Revelation 12:9). Satan and his demons deceive the world (2 Corinthians 4:4), attack Christians (2 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Peter 5:8), and combat the holy angels (Revelation 12:4-9). Demons are spiritual beings, but they can appear in physical forms (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). The demons/fallen angels are enemies of God, but they are defeated enemies. Greater is He who is in us, than those who are in the world (1 John 4:4)." (source, GotQuestions).

Remember this set of verses in Matthew?

“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” (Mt 12:43-45)

That explanation, given by Jesus, tells us a lot about how demons operate. First, demons are active. Second, they go in and out of people. They seek dry places (waste places, fitting for them.) Also if we remember Jesus is the Living Water then it stands to reason that demons would always thirst and be dry, restlessly seeking that which they thirst for but never will acknowledge. Third, the verses tell us that if a person is only outwardly clean and after vain attempts to remain clean in his own strength that the demon will soon come back in force to re-occupy the person. Only that which is of Jesus can truly repel a demon, because it only Jesus who has the victory.

I applaud the LeRoy officials for looking into most of the possible causes of the unfortunate distress affecting so many families in this area. They've looked into medical, neurological, psychological and environmental causes. I have not found one article that has considered spiritual causes. Believers in Jesus know that satan is active and strong, restless and endlessly seeking that whom he may devour. A spiritual cause is worth looking into!

In Mexico they have been having problems with demons for a while, so much so that in 2010 a new chapel dedicated to performing exorcisms opened up in the district of Queretaro! The Catholic Church there said at that time they had about ten cases per month and that the phenomenon was on the rise.

In this recent news article, Huffington Post obtained photos from modern day exorcisms in Mexico City.

From a spiritual standpoint it needs to be said that though ninety percent of Mexicans are Roman Catholic, it is not a true religion. It teaches things contrary to the bible and any person who adheres to those precepts is not saved, including the priests performing the exorcisms. However from a cultural standpoint it is useful to note that where there is not true faith, demonic occurrences are on the rise.

Please pray for the girls, families, and new victims of this outbreak in NY, whatever it is. Pray that the local pastors would have discernment and have courage to propose that there may be a spiritual source for this. At the very least, if the issue is raised it may be that it can be excluded from the list of possible catalysts. And if not then it may lead to a blessed event of salvation of afflicted souls.

Comments

  1. I do appreciate that you stand by the Word of God. "If you hold to My teaching, you are really my disciples." (John 8:31)
    Revelation 22:17 "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let him who hears say, 'Come.' And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price."

    ("So when God says that he will give the water of the fountain of life to the thirsty he means he will give it to those who desire it -- those who have a taste for it and long for it and have turned away from the soul-beverages of the world.
    When God says thirst is a condition of salvation he doesn't mean that everybody who would like to avoid hell and live for ever will be saved. That's everybody. Everybody is thirsty in that sense. God means that everybody whose soul-thirst is really for God, and not for the praise and power and pleasures of the world, will be saved. People whose thirst has driven them away from the shallow streams of sin to the deep oasis at the far side of the desert -- these are the ones to whom God will give to drink of the water of life for ever. " John Piper)
    We are to defend the faith (Jude) for the sake of those perishing. True love is wanting other's souls to prosper...not just feel good about themselves.

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  2. This happened to a high school in southern Philippines last year. Several girls suddenly exhibited strange behavior, shouting with shrill voices. Sadly, they were brought to catholic priests who don't know squat about God's redemptive power over demonic activities.

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  3. Elizabeth,

    I checked out a few of Miss. Brownwell's videos from the link you provided. I believe there is a visual clue in her video entitled "Backtracking". The evil looking poster behind her caught my attention. I wasn't familiar with it so I did a little google searching and found that it is a poster for a band called "Avenged Sevenfold". I looked up some songs and lyrics by this band. The one that is most disturbing is a song they recorded in 2010 entitled "God Hates Us". The lyrics to that song are unbelievably disturbing. There is even a reference to the "infiltrated mind". If all of these poor kids have all been together listing to this horrible band and singing/chanting the lyrics it is easy to see from a spiritual perspective what has happened here. I no longer have any doubt that this is a case of demon possession. We need to be in prayer for them.

    Charlie

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  4. Oh, I agree with Charlie. I am the anonymous poster who commented on your last article on this subject--that music lyrics could have something to do with opening us up to demon possession.

    I was also interested in watching the videos to get a clue of her spiritual characteristics. Good job Charlie!!!

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  5. I just read the backtracking video that Charlie mentioned, as well as her first video.

    And noticed a few things that I thought were interesting:
    1. the "passing out/seizure" episode that she mentioned with bruising on her side.
    2. Insomnia, she can't sleep with her tics waking her up (which is a characteristic of demonization)
    3. Tingling up her spine (kundalini--the goal of yoga)
    4. She said in her first video that it began at a concert. She passed out headbanging. Then a month later she passed out at the homecoming dance (both incidents began as music was playing)
    5. She was on Celexa (an anti-depressant that can cause "halucinations" and I have taken it for fibromyalgia and heard voices. I personally believe that anti-depressants can open you up to spiritual attack. I stopped them.)

    She seems like such a nice girl, my heart is breaking for her. I think that by listening to her story, it could very well be spiritual.

    I do think that epilepsy and ourette's can be purely physical. I know a sweet christian girl with tourette's, but she had it since she was tiny. It didn't just happen out of nowhere with a group of other people getting the same thing at the same time.

    And the Bible does describe actual demonized young people with tourette's/epileptic symptoms too. In those stories, it wasn't a disease they were healed from but a tormenting spirit.

    Who knows, but I will pray for these girls. It seems exhausting and overwhelming. Poor thing.

    Now, I wanted to post this about Celexa. It shows the side effects. I believe that these can be spiritual too (pharmakeia= sorcery). Like I said I took this (not for psychological reasons but for fibromyalgia as a Christian) and I was tormented and hearing voices. Could the drug have opened her up even more to the enemy???

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001041/

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  6. What about a bad vaccine lot??? Gardasil is given to teens. Check out this video?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TG3mWgsMt-A#!

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  7. Hi Anonymous,

    Good thought on the Gardasil. It was one of the first things they checked for. It was excluded, "McVige said she used the "diagnosis of exclusion" to determine what happened to the girls, which means using the process of elimination. She ruled out a laundry list of factors to reach her diagnosis, including infections, drug use, food allergies and vaccine reactions, specifically Gardasil,

    source
    http://www.wlky.com/r/30254307/detail.html

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  8. Insteresting comment about Celexa. I had diagnosed clinical depression and was put on 3 or 4 differernt antidepressents. I don't remember which one it was, but I ended up having the most incredibly horrible nightmares immaginable. I told my doctor I couldn't believe those kinds of things were in my mind to actually dream about. He ended up putting me on Welbutrin and I was able to eventually come off it altogether. I also went through Christian counseling to deal with anything that might have been causing the depression in the first place, but it was decided that it was a bad case of SAD that had not been treated correctly.

    I will never go on an antidepressant again. I think it was the generic form of Celexa that gave me the nightmares. Unbelievable things in my dreams. Horrors. I'd always had wonderful dreams until that time. There may, indeed, be a connection with these girls and antidepressants or ridilin or any of the other things doctors automatically put people on now. And I still can't help but believe fetal ultrasounds may be dangerous and why in the world do we pump so many drugs into our children through vaccines???? Also dangerous things like mercury. We are setting our children's minds and bodies up for all sorts of things, including mental weaknesses that could open doors to demonic forces.

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  9. Gardisil is an excellent thought, but does not preclude the spiritual. Giving a child a vaccine for "safe sex" has very real spiritual dimensions and invites who knows what spirits in. Also, did the school hold any "psychic fairs" or any such dangerous activities? These avenues definitely need to be explored. The mainstream media will not tell us, but I hope and pray these children's parents are looking into this obvious possibility.

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  10. Interesting thoughts as I searched for an article exploring that these symptoms were indeed spiritul. It was my first thought when reading the article. The tics are common among charismatic churches who think they are receiving special anointings from the Holy Spirit. You see this among many young people in the International House of Prayer cult. They think the shaking and tics are a sign of a deep spiritual relationship but they are deceived.

    About the Celexa...I went through a similar episode of being "opened up" by the drugs. I was hearing voices of instruction and thought I was hearing from God but I was listening to the enemy. I repented of this and tapered myself off of the two drugs that were given to me for menopause. I suffered oppression and manifestations while tapering. The same company that makes anti-depressants made LSD...very dangerous.

    Here is my testimony about this on my blog http://kimolsen.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/deception-of-false-teachers-and-my-prophetic-messages/

    I am very worried about these girls and do not want to say yet that they are being demonized, but I suspect it is true.

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  11. how many of the victims are left-handed?

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    1. what would that have to do with it?

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  12. Elizabeth, I wanted to let you know of this article on Gardasil in relation to these girls. Officially Gardasil has been "ruled out" by a doctor who is receiving a LOT of money from the vaccine manufacturers every time he speaks!!!!

    Also, a cousin of one of the girls has publicly stated that the symptoms progressed each time she got the vaccine. after her third round of gardasil she could no longer walk.

    Also, according to the VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System), there are many HPV reactions that are being diagnosed as "Conversion Disorder."

    I think it is a huge vaccine cover up.

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  13. Anonymous, thank you for letting us know of the Gardasil situation. Indeed, I had read that the vaccine was ruled out as a cause, but this may bring new light on the situation. Thank you!

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  14. THE GIRL IN THE YOU TUBE CLIP WAS AT A HEAVY METAL ROCK CONCERT "AVENGED SEVENFOLD" AND WAS WORSHIPPING THE DEVILS MUSIC.
    SHE HAD BEEN HEADBANGING AND IT IS AT THIS POINT I BELIEVE SHE IS POSSESSED BY A DEVIL! YES, THIS IS ALL SPIRITUAL. I LIVE IN ENGLAND, AND WHEN I HEARD OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO ALL THESE YOUNG PEOPLE, I DISCERNED THAT THIS IS THE WORK OF THE DEVIL AND CONTACTED THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, EXPLAINING THAT THIS IS NOT ANY CONTAMINATED SOIL, ETC, AND THAT THESE GIRLS ARE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DARKNESS AND THAT A BORN AGAIN BELIEVER IN JESUS CHRIST WOULD BE WILLING TO COME AND TALK.
    AS USUAL, THE WORLD WOULD NOT HEED TO THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE TELEPHONE CALL AND THE STATE OF ALL THESE GIRLS AND SO NEVER CONTACTED US AGAIN.
    THERE IS ONLY THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL, AND THE GRACE, MERCY AND POWER OF THE LORD JESUS CHIRST WHOM CAN SET THESE POOR YOUNG PEOPLE FREE. THEY DO NOT HAVE AN ILLNESS AS THE WORLD THINKS - THEY ARE DEVIL POSSESSED AND ARE BEING MORE AND MORE TORMENTED WITH EACH PASSING HOUR.
    JESUS CHIRST IS THE ONLY ONE WHOM CAN SET THEM ALL FREE!

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  15. Touretts has nothing to do with religion. I am and have been a Christain for a long time and since I have it does not mean that I do not have the lord in me.

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  16. Luke 8 KJV CE
    30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.
    31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.

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  17. lmfao you people need help...antidepressants are fine...the devil lives in minds like yours who are weak enough to let him in which is just your sunconscious using religion to justify sinful actions...maybe u should read about science..get into physics ..realize how the world works..could b tons of things that cause this...possibly ..even if it is a problem that manifested on its own..is a problem with the brain not a devil...i am no angel..im screwed up in life..listened to bad music..done drugs...but now i am a completely normal person who found his way..stop being so narrow minded..the universe has been around 13 billion years..man evolved..and all of this may or may not have been created by a greater energy than we can understand but not in a garden with a snake and an apple just a few thousand years ago

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    1. Hi Gregory,

      Yo'ure right. We humans do need help, all of us. That's because we sin, like you do, with drugs and bad music etc. Even now you're not a normal person but a sinner. Sinning means we do, think, or say things that are below' God's standards of holiness, like the "f' in your 'lmfao' comment. Or lying, or thinking about women in a lustful way. You undoubtedly do all these things and more, and thus are disqualified from going to heaven when you die because those are sins. We all sin. Yes, there IS a heaven, and a hell too. This life isn't all there is, and the universe didn't bang into existence from nothing.

      I love physics, how could I not? God created physics. Science and the bible are not mutually incompatible. But that is not the subject here: sin is.

      Where will you go when you die? Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life without sinning once, was killed and shed His blood, and pleased with Jesus's life, God raised him from the dead. Now, any person, sinner though he is, can go THROUGH Jesus as the door to heaven. All you have to do is repent of your sins against Him and ask His forgiveness. He will forgive you, and then when you die, you may enter. God will be just as pleased with you as He is with His Son, because you believed in His Son, which is the Father's will for you.

      Now no matter how sinful I was, I have the Holy SPirit's help in resisting it. I no longer swear, like you do. Since you did drugs, the Holy Spirit would help you if you became a believer to resist the temptation, forever. Isn't it wonderful to have GOD actually helping you! I'm sorry to tell you that you did not find your way, the only way is Jesus, and eventually, your foot will slide in due time.You will fall, back into dreaded sin, or fall even to death. Why am I sure of this? Because sinners always sin.

      The way IS narrow, it is only through Jesus that we may be released from the power of sin on this earth and enter heaven after death. Where will you go when you die?

      "For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." Matthew 7:14

      "Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’" Deuteronomy 32:35, and that verse is talking about you, Gregory.

      "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

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  18. Lets get back On-track here.
    The girls in up-state NY /disorder thing.
    FAKE !
    I don't believe it one bit & think it was all just "attention-getting" from the start.

    Being a Christian doesn't mean we have to be gullible.
    YES: I am SAVED in the very sense of accepting JESUS CHRIST as my LORD & SAVIOR.
    I teach in Children's Church, which means GOD wanted me to be the first student & tell what all I've learned from HIS word.
    You don't have to side with me.

    I DON'T believe any of it was true, the girls faked it & today they giggle over how much attention they stirred up.

    The BIBLE says to guard your heart..........
    Don't buy into every story that comes along!
    Funny how they "all" got better after the cameras were off of them.......hummmm???
    Remember other "stories" in news headlines???
    * bigfoot was found in a deep freezer in Georgia by a game warden
    * Dec. 2012 was the end of the world b/c some "my-ann" people didn't update their calendar. (still laughing over that one)
    * GLOBAL WARMING.
    * albert gore made the enter-net ( don't capitalize his name )
    * the "apple-core" Heavens-Gate cult & their new shoes wanting to chase a comet .
    * Oboma-Care
    * he did not have sex with that woman!!!!!

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