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Breaking Free: My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorder | 
 enlarge | Author: Herschel Walker
Creator: Jerry Mungadze
Publisher: Touchstone
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $17.72
You Save: $7.23 (29%)
New (70) Used (40) Collectible (3) from $1.61
Rating:  16 reviews
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 1416537481
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.196852360092
EAN: 9781416537489
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The NFL legend and Heisman Trophy winner shares the inspiring story of his life and diagnosis with dissociative identity disorder.Herschel Walker is widely regarded as one of football's greatest running backs. He led the University of Georgia to victory in the Sugar Bowl on the way to an NCAA Championship and he capped a sensational college career by earning the 1982 Heisman Trophy. Herschel spent twelve years in the NFL, where he rushed for more than eight thousand yards and scored sixty-one rushing touchdowns. But despite the acclaim he won as a football legend, track star, Olympic competitor, and later a successful businessman, Herschel realized that his life, at times, was simply out of control. He often felt angry, self-destructive, and unable to connect meaningfully with friends and family. Drawing on his deep faith, Herschel turned to professionals for help and was ultimately diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder. While some might have taken this diagnosis as a setback, Herschel approached his mental health with the same indomitable spirit he brought to the playing field. It also gave him, for the first time, insight into his life's unexplained passages, stretches of time that seemed forever lost. Herschel came to understand that during those times, his "alters," or alternate personalities, were in control. Born into a poor, but loving family in the South, Herschel was an overweight child with a stutter who suffered terrible bullying at school. He now understands that he created "alters" who could withstand abuse. But beyond simply enduring, other "alters" came forward to help Herschel overcome numerous obstacles and, by the time he graduated high school, become an athlete recognized on a national level. In Breaking Free, Herschel tells his story -- from the joys and hardships of childhood to his explosive impact on college football to his remarkable professional career. And he gives voice and hope to those suffering from DID. Herschel shows how this disorder played an integral role in his accomplishments and how he has learned to live with it today. His compelling account testifies to the strength of the human spirit and its ability to overcome any challenge.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Complete Baloney October 3, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This diagnosis is a complete fraud. Not just Mr. Walker's case, but almost all of them. In over 20 years as a therapist I have never seen one legitimate case of MPD/DID. It is a diagnosis created by unethical mental health professionals and claimed by patients with overactive imaginations. Read the book "Creating Hysteria" by Joan Acocella if you want the truth on MPD/DID.
 great book October 1, 2008
This book was very informative. DID is a mental health issue that is not often spoken of in such a positive light. Hershel tells his story in a very intelligent and gripping manner. Please try it for your self.
Questionable case of DID August 16, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Amazing that the title is My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorder. He barely mentioned the DID unless it got him out of hot water. The final chapter of the book was a short explanation of what DID is. You could get this info from the Sidran web site and save the cost of the book. Most of his time was spent either stroking his ego or offering an excuse for all the controversial things he has been involved with.
He claims that the splits in his identity occured because of nightmares and some bullies at school. Yet he was able to find solace in a loving and close christian family. Every DID case I have ever heard of, has suffered through horrendous abuse, usually from primary caregivers. Herschel Walker makes light of these survivors.
Save your money.
Breaking Free: My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorder July 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was easy to read and informative. There was no bragging -- just a genuine quest to understand and to share with others his struggles. It was brave to reveal so much of himself in the effort to help others. To me, this book is his greatest victory.
 Though-provoking . . . June 10, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Overall, I liked this book. One has to admire Herschel for going public with his diagnosis, one poorly understood by the general public and often associated with severe pathology. That took courage, which the author seems to have in abundance. His writing shows an intelligence not commonly associated with sports, and he gives articulate expression to the various manifestations of his version of DID. A real plus of Walker's account is that he describes an "up" side to this condition, stating clearly for the layperson that it has certain adaptive and self-protecting qualities.
That said, I was left with some questions. While the book seemed forthright and honest, he describes about a dozen different "alters" (formerly called multiple personalities) that he claims have arisen from his being tormented as a fat and stuttering schoolboy--while undoubtedly painful, his schoolyard abuse is hardly the type that normally spawns this fragmented condition. And as a clinical psychologist, I have treated DID patients. A more common presentation than his involves distinct changes in personality including voice, body posture, emotional expression, etc. . . . like you are really seeing different people. He says that his shifts were more subtle, nothing that could be seen externally, more like discrete changes in mental state known only to him at the time. That raises (for me, at least) the issue of whether or not this devoted and highly focused athlete is not simply given to a rather strict compartmentalization of his feelings, a medium that he would admit he is not comfortable with. Even his most personal relationships have suffered from his tendency to be so self-contained. Or perhaps DID is best explained as a "spectrum" disorder, ranging in degree of severity, as we now know autism to be. Who knows?
While he talks about his repeated "thrill-seeking" with Russian roulette, Walker notable leaves out of his story the fact that he several times put a gun to his ex-wife's head. And he glosses over a bit the fact that he had an affair despite his born-again Christian beliefs. When a "tell all" book tells not quite all, you are left wondering what more has been left out.
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