Breaking Free

I read this book called, "Breaking Free" by Herschel Walker in about a day. Herschel is famous for his football career. I am probably stating the obvious here but I had no idea who he was. I pay no attention to football. I just knew his name sounded familiar. He was a Minnesota Viking at one point. I didn't read this book because of football though. I read it because I was interested in dissociative identity disorder. This disorder is a tough thing to have and only by the grace of God do I have good mental health. The disorder used to be known as "split personality." Back in the 1970's, I read the book named, "Sybil." I also saw the movie starring Sally Field. Herschel doesn't dramatize the disorder like the story about Sybil did. Herschel just says it plain. He wasn't abused or neglected as a child. He didn't suffer any significant childhood trauma outside of being bullied by his classmates. Being bullied for your size and your slight stutter can be traumatizing though. For Herschel, separating himself from being the target of bullies helped him cope. When a situation got too tough for him to handle, he distanced himself so he wouldn't have to experience it. One alter (personality) felt no pain - that came in handy many times. One alter was the commander and could be assertive. One alter was a negotiator. As Herschel grew up, having the alters wasn't so helpful. He lost periods of time. He couldn't remember what happened when certain alters took over. Herschel knew it could be bad when the commander took over. When the commander took over more often than Herschel wanted, he sought help and received his diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder (DID). Some very scary incidents happened. Much of the book is about exercise and sports. Herschel went to the extreme when it came to exercise. I suppose all good athletes go to the extreme. I skimmed over the sports stuff. Herschel tries hard not to bad mouth anyone. He's a good guy. He tries really hard to do the right thing. He comes across a little rigid and a little hard on himself. I think it takes a brave man to write a book like this.