Former NFL running back talks about overcoming illness

Pvt. Aaron Carpenter/28th Public Affairs Detachment

Joint Base Lewis-McChord Madigan Army Medical Center welcomed Herschel Walker, one of the best running backs in football history, Feb. 24, at the Letterman Auditorium. Walker spoke about overcoming Dissociative Identity Disorder.

“People may call it mental illness or whatever illness it is, but I want to show people that there’s no such thing as macho when you’re suffering,” Walker said.

Walker said you really become macho when you’re able to step up and address your problems.

According to webmd.com, Dissociative Identity Disorder is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct or split identities or personality states that continually have power over a person’s behavior. This can be so powerful that those with the disorder might not remember key events about their life.

Walker has been affected to the degree that he can’t remember receiving the Heisman Trophy, an annual award given to the nation’s top college football player.

“One deterrent that stops people from getting help is that stigma,” Walker said. “There’s no shame in admitting that you have a problem.”

Most people who only knew Walker as a football player were surprised that he had such a serious condition.

“He’s amazing because he gives hope to so many people,” said Tammhie Swan, a licensed practical nurse at JBLM MAMC, “and, hopefully, he will help people’s perception of (mental disorders) being a stigma.

Walker reminded people that the world isn’t going to just fall in your lap.

“People have got to realize that life isn’t easy,” Walker said. “Everything is not going to go your way.”

Christina Holcomb, a medical coder at JBLM MAMC and an Army spouse, has experienced hardships while her husband is deployed.

“I think that because I have a husband who is deployed, I see more of the stigmas that are attached to the idea of a disorder,” Holcomb said.

These disorders are something that she works with to help JBLM MAMC get more funding for patients.

Walker said his doctor recommended analyzing writing samples from earlier in his life. Walker, 47, decided that keeping a journal would be therapeutic. One result was his book, “Breaking Free.”

“People ask me all of the time, were you not embarrassed to write this book,” Walker said. “I say, no, because of the great reward freedom brings.

“Embarrassment is not being able to stand up and being at home at night with a gun in your mouth getting ready to blow your brains out.”

He said that anyone who feels like that is not alone.

“I’ve been there too,” said Walker, “but you’ve never read about that.”

Walker is currently competing in mixed martial arts and will also be visiting First Lady Michelle Obama next month to discuss “P.E. for Life,” an anti-obesity campaign. He also owns the largest minority-owned poultry company in the U.S. with more than 800 employees.