Herschel Walker
Dissociative Identity Disorder
"D.I.D. is not 'Sybil' or 'Three Faces of Eve.' D.I.D. is just an illness that people are dealing with"
Biography
Born March 3, 1962
Grew up in Wrightsville, GA
First Grade- Stuttering Issue
- Overweight
- Constantly Picked On
- Christian household
- One of Seven Children
Seventh Grade
- Created a Person to be Strong
- Read to Himself Out Loud Until his Stutter Disappeared
- Worked out
- Became Successful in Football
College and Beyond
- Attended the University of Georgia
- Won the Heisman Within Three Years
- Joined the United States Football League with the New Jersey Generals
- Joined NFL with Dallas Cowboys
- Noticed Behavior after Retiring in 1997
--- More Aggressive at Home
--- His Wife became his Target
----- He Put a Gun to her Head During an Argument
How the Disorder Manifested
He constantly contemplated suicide
Alternates had various interests
One alternate was a child, who showed up when Walker injured his hand one day
The sweet and loving personality told Walker's wife that she married him, not Walker
Walker doesn't remember winning the Heisman Trophy
Had around a dozen alternate personalities
Some of the alters would tell Walker the diagnosis was wrong
"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.'"
Why?
"Well, now it makes perfect sense, because each personality has a different interest. This one has an interest in ballet, this one has an interest in the Marines, this one had an interest [in the] FBI, this one had an interest in sports" - Walker's Wife, Cindy Grossman
Treatment
Integrating the alternates into the main individual, helping them work together
Writing a book to change the stigma surrounding the disorder, and make it real
Talking about everything he can remember, to help him understand