Herschel Walker and Dissociative Identity Disorder

Herschel Walker, currently the Republican candidate for the United States Senate, was born on March 3, 1962, in Augusta, Georgia.   Walker grew up in Wrightsville, a small town of around four thousand people.  He is well-known for his exploits on the football field.  Herschel won the 1982 Heisman trophy, an award given to the best player in college.  He also had a successful career in the USFL and NFL. (Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia)

Walker’s dad “worked the fields for a white landowner by the name of Mr. Jackson while his mother was a housekeeper for the [same] family.”  (Walker, Brozek, and Maxfield, Breaking Free:  My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorder, p. 21, 2008)

Herschel said, “Keeping my emotions to myself, not letting anyone in my family know about what was troubling me, was a trait I shared with the rest of my family.” (Ibid, p. 23) As a child, he never told anyone how afraid he was of the dark.  Walker felt “engulfed and swallowed up in it.” (24)  He saw “wolves staring at him with baleful, pale yellow eyes.” Herschel used the power of dissociation to rid himself of his fears.  An example of dissociation is when one takes a trip and for long periods of time is thinking of something else.  When the destination is reached, it is a surprise. Over time Herschel became aware of a presence in the room that “calmed and reassured me.”  (25)   He was “as mystified by the process of the formation of this alter as you are.” (25)

As a child Walker was overweight, stuttered, and largely isolated. He had few friends and was sometimes bullied and harassed by other children. Herschel sometimes paid children to talk to him.

Walker was the fifth of seven children.  According to Alfred Adler, one of the founders of modern psychology, “because the oldest child receives responsibility and the youngest can be spoiled, children in the middle can feel like they receive no attention at all.”  “They fight for significance and privilege.  This causes the child to develop an attitude that is very black and white.”   They tend to be even tempered, fight to protect the social justice of others, but can be very lonely.”  (Internet article: “Alfred Adler Birth Order Theory Explained,” HRF, https://healthresearchfunding.org/alfred-adler-birth-order-theory-explained/)

Herschel describes dissociation and formation of alters thusly: “I am experiencing something painful.  I don’t like the emotions or physical pain I’m in.  I feel powerless to escape from it physically.  I can’t endure it any longer.  I need help to get out of this situation.  I am going to go somewhere in my mind that is very far from this real experience.  I am going to imagine that this is happening to someone else.  I am going to enlist the aid of someone who is stronger than me to ward off these feelings.  The strategies I’ve used have been successful—I am no longer conscious of the pain.  I’m going to use these strategies again when the need arises.”  (Walker et al, Breaking Free, p. 26)

The authoritative reference for DID is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, 5^th Edition (DSM-5).  It lists five criteria.  There must be two or more distinct personality states or identities.  Each must have its own pattern of perceiving, relating to and thinking about the environment and self.  Amnesia must occur.  That is defined as gaps in the recall of everyday events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events.  The person must be distressed by the disorder or have trouble functioning in one or more major life areas because of it.  The disturbance is not part of normal cultural or religious practices.  The symptoms are not due to the effects of a substance or medical condition.  (Internet website:  Healthy Place, “Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID):  DSM-5 Criteria,” www.healthyplace.com/abuse/dissociative-identity-disorder/dissociative-… )

Everyone engages in self-talk, but with DID it takes on a more extreme form and the voice develops an identity of its own.  One of Herschel’s alters was the Consoler.  “He” was a kind of parent figure or friend who soothed him.  Another alter was the Hero “who put on a façade of not being affected by what was being said or done to him.” (Walker et all, Breaking Free, p. 36) These alters were sent into the emotional fray by the Coach who was aware of the presence of the others.  Not all were.  There was also a frightened wounded alter. (36)

Walker is a Pisces, a sensitive, imaginative, impressionable, compassionate, mutable water sign.  Linda Goodman, famous astrologer, believed the sign was largely comprised of snippets of personality traits of the other eleven signs.  Pisceans can have great acting ability and often possess a chameleon like adaptability.  In Herschel’s case it does not appear that he received enough emotional support from his parents and siblings.  In a kind of self-succoring his personality became fragmented.

On the day and year of his birth, Herschel’s planetary positions were these:  Sun 12 degrees 8 minutes Pisces, Moon 27 degrees  3 minutes Capricorn, Mercury 15 degrees 0 minutes Aquarius, Venus 20 degrees 34 Pisces, Mars 22 degrees 50 Aquarius,  Jupiter 24 d 50 Aquarius, Saturn 6 d 44 Aquarius, Uranus 27 d 54 Leo R, Neptune 13 d 24 Scorpio, Pluto 8 d 45 Virgo, and Chiron 6 d 43 Pisces.  (https://astro-charts.com/persons/chart/herschel-walker/?r=p)  As the time of birth is not known, the Moon may range up to 6 degrees after and before the given position.

A focal determinator in Walker’s chart is the stellium in Aquarius, the sign of detachment.  Within that, Mercury had a wide joining with Mars and Mars a closer one with Jupiter.  With DID there seems to be a quality of detachment.  Alters protect the ego by separating from painful situations.  Athletics and martial arts provided Herschel with a release, a sense of success, and compensation from feelings of inferiority.

Herschel has had some success in business.  The Mars Jupiter conjunction is an aspect of enterprise.

I feel the Moon in Capricorn is the more likely placement.  Walker mentions his sense of discipline and drive for accomplishments in his book. This lunar position wants finality.  That might help account for his playing Russian Roulette.

Herschel has six planets in fixed signs. Those tend to solve difficulties by being stubborn and digging in.  This may have contributed to the DID because the inherent options did not solve his dilemmas.

 

Walker has the Sun conjoined with Chiron, the wounded healer.  “With this [aspect] there is pain related to self-expression.”  “You often feel you have to make up an identity and hide your real self.”  (Internet article Astrology,  https://advanced-astrology.com/sun-conjunct-chiron-natal-synastry/)

After Herschel retired from football, he created Renaissance Man Food Services in 1999.  This company distributes chicken products. Later he founded H. Walker Enterprises as an umbrella company for all of his enterprises.  (Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia)

Walker has repeatedly exaggerated about the assets and number of employees in his companies.  Several of his enterprises have failed, and this has led to creditor lawsuits.  (Ibid)

At one point Herschel claimed Renaissance Man employed one hundred people, generated $70 million in sales, and owned chicken processing plants.  In fact, Walker licensed his name to the enterprise, and the company owns no plants.  In April 2020 the company applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan  because of the economic impact of Covid-19.  In the application the company said it only had eight employees.  (Ibid)

Walker viewed Donald Trump as a mentor.  The former president had owned the USFL New Jersey Generals, a football team he played for.  Herschel sought his advice.  In 2021 Trump encouraged him to run for the U.S. Senate.  Walker supports Trump’s claims about overturning the 2020 election and has stated there was countrywide fraud.  (Ibid)

Herschel has also falsely claimed he was valedictorian of his high school class and had graduated from the University of Georgia.  The latter had been posted on a campaign website and was retracted when a newspaper inquired about the claim.  (Ibid)

Walker has been twice married. He felt his first partner was not paying enough attention to him. “I went outside my marriage and had an affair with another woman.”  It was at this time he began putting a gun to his head. Herschel felt his life was spinning out of control.  He sought help after his wife found out about his dalliance. (Walker et al, Breaking Free, p. 215, 217)

Herschel blamed the alters for all of his excuse making. “The Indifferent Daredevil, who didn’t care about what other people think or what was right and wrong, shut the Judge up or convinced him that there was something right about me doing something to punish Cindy, [his first wife] since she had violated a cardinal rule by not being loyal to the team.”  (217)

Just about everyone has skeletons in their closet.  Herschel has his share.  Telling the truth, however, is important.  It is best to deal with problematic events directly.  If one is a public figure, untruths and failure will inevitably be brought to light.  Most lives have struggles, difficulties, and periods where one is not successful. Walker may have a distorted view of this and think success is almost constant.  He might also be overly sensitive and fear criticism.

Politics is a dirty, rough and tumble business with a lot of falsity and name calling.  I hope his personality is integrated, and he is ready for it.