Rick Werner – Co-founder James Werner Legacy Project

Opioids: Hidden Dangers, New Hope

Rick Werner on what he hopes for his late son's legacy~ "He never admitted that he had an addiction, but he was well aware that he had a mental health issue. And he would say, "I want to be an advocate for my disease." And so we're trying to do that in his honor, in his absence, but as his legacy to help people who both have mental health issues and addiction issues, and try to improve folks' lives and maybe even save some lives." Rick Werner, Co-founder James Werner Legacy Project, and his son, James Werner Brian Wilson: At just 27 years old Rick Werner's son Jamie found himself at the intersection of bipolar disorder and drug addiction. Now, Rick tells Jamie's story and speaks of the legacy he hopes will be left by his son who loved life, and died much too young. Brian Wilson: I want you to tell me about your son, Jamie. First, tell me about what kind of kid he was. Jamie Werner Rick Werner: He was 27 when he died. He was a graduate of Walt Whitman High School here in Bethesda, also a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park. He was a huge Terp fan, as I am and as our whole family is. He was also a great high school football player. He was an all-county high school football player at Whitman. And he was also, and this continued right up until when he died, he was a football coach, an assistant football coach back at his high school. Brian Wilson: This is a young man who was very sports-minded, athletic? Rick Werner: Absolutely. Brian Wilson: Yeah? Rick Werner: He loved sports. Brian Wilson: Tell me about his personality. Rick Werner: He had an incredibly infectious personality. He was the kind of guy who when he walked into the room, he lit up the room. Let me give you sort of a funny example about that. When I would drive home from work - and this was after Jamie had moved out - I'd drive home from work - and he lived locally - and if his car was in the driveway, I knew I was gonna come home and we were gonna have a fun time. We were gonna have some drinks and he was gonna cook up an amazing dinner because he was an amateur chef and he loved to cook. And so we would sit there, and we would probably sit there for a couple of hours and he would tell stories, a huge talker, and we were gonna have a lot of fun if Jamie was there. Brian Wilson: Yeah. But there were struggles along the way. Bipolar Disorder Rick Werner: Well, I said that he was a big talker. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. And he would often talk a lot. He would come in and let's say I'm reading on the porch after dinner, he would come out and sit and talk to me. And I would have my book sort of out like this, and after a while I just knew I was gonna put that book down because I was not getting any more reading done. And so that was partly his personality, but partly also his bipolar disorder. Brian Wilson: So when he was up, he was talkative. Rick Werner: That's exactly right. Brian Wilson: But the downside to the bipolar disorder is there are moments when they're very, very low. Rick Werner: That's right too. Brian Wilson: Talk about that. Rick Werner: "We've learned that people who have mental health struggles very often tend to self-medicate with drugs." Rick Werner: Well, sometimes it's hard to disentangle his mental illness from his addiction, but there were many times when he was depressed and couldn't get out of bed, maybe again related to drugs too. But there were very many down times that he had where my wife in particular was trying to sort of get him going. So what we've sort of learned is that people who have mental health struggles very often tend to self-medicate with drugs. Because I think for many of them, it makes them feel "normal." They know that their mind doesn't work exactly the way other people's minds work. And when they take drugs or alcohol, it gives them that feeling like, "Hey, I'm fine. I'm just like everybody else now because I've sort of quieted my mind."