Herschel Walker a Hero and a Monster

In Walker’s recently published book Breaking Free: My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorder he has opened up about his diagnosed DID (also known as multiple personality disorder). DID is a severe form of dissociation, a mental process which produces a lack of connection in a person’s thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity.DID cannot be cured, but treatment may help and it can last for years or be lifelong. This disorder is usually not diagnosed until adulthood and often sparks from a childhood trauma. Walker was born in small-town Wrightsville, Georgia to parents Willis and Christine Walker where he was one of seven children in his blue collar family. “I was a fat little kid with a severe speech impediment,” Walker claims of his early years. “I used to get beat up, not just picked on, and I couldn’t fight back.” However, Walker’s mother taught him not to use these problems as excuses in life. Walker became a very determined man and proved his capabilities in high school as a member of the track, basketball, and football team. In his senior year, he rushed for 3,167 yards, helping the Johnson County Trojans to win their first state championship. In the same year he also graduated valedictorian of his class.

In his book, Walker recalls shocking stories of the effects of his DID. The most popular and talked about of his stories is an event where he held a gun to his own head and played Russian roulette. Walker wrote the book to disprove the common perceptions people have of multiple personality disorder. He shares, “Since there is so much ‘information’ out there about DID that I believe is distorted or inaccurate, I’ve decided to risk the shame and potential pity my revelation will elicit in order to come forward to tell the truth about my mental health.” By telling his story, Walker proves that individuals living with this illness can not be held back from being successful; Walker is certainly successful by all means.

It wasn’t until later in life that Walker began to identify and assess the recurring problems in his multiple personalities. “I had it the whole time, I just didn’t know what it was,” Walker said. After several instances of Walker showing unnecessary violence he finally went to the doctor himself to get to the root of the problem. He was diagnosed in 2008. Some doctors believe Walker’s multiple personalities were contributors to his success. Think about it: Herschel Walker had the power to change personalities in an instant and be an aggressive beast on the field. While off the field, he was a model man who graduated valedictorian of Johnson County High School, married his high school sweetheart, and became the face of football in the South. Herschel shared with ABC News, “I told somebody once, ‘You don’t want the Herschel that plays football … babysitting your child, when I am competing, I am a totally different person.’”

There is no doubt that Herschel Walker has been successful in his many careers. Concerning The University of Georgia athletics, he has raised so many standards. Most importantly, he used his platform as a football star to open up about the challenges of Dissociative Identity Disorder. In Walker’s book he writes, “The shame and pity of it all is that we view mental illness the way that we do- most often as a failure of the person’s will, a weakness of character.” Walker’s hope is that by reading his book the world will better understand his disease and how in no way does it affect his capability or character.