Football legend opens Army Suicide Prevention Month Health Fair at Pentagon
Posted by
Debi Teter on Tue, Sep 25, 2012 @ 08:45 AM
Dallas Cowboy legend and 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker has a message for service members that he wants them to hear loud and clear. “There is no shame in asking for help. I did.”
On hand to sign autographs for fans, Walker opened the Army Suicide Prevention Month Health Fair in the Pentagon courtyard, Sept 12. He told his story of silent suffering with what was once known as multiple personality disorder (now dissociative identity disorder), a mental illness that affects a person’s behavior and memory. In his 2008 memoir, “Breaking Free: My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorder,” Walker unveils his struggles with maintaining close relationships, feelings of being “out of control,” and his inability to remember events in his life – including the day he received the Heisman trophy.
Walker sought professional help, and told his story to attendees in support of the Army’s effort to raise awareness and bring help to members of its ranks who may struggle with mental illness.
Walker is also a national spokesman for Freedom Care, and has brought his message to military servicemembers at more than 45 military installations.
Freedom Care is a specialized military treatment program with multiple inpatient and residential locations in the U.S. They specialize in combat PTSD, addiction, PTSD/addiction dual diagnosis, general psychiatric diagnoses, and woman's issues, including military sexual trauma and eating disorders.
(Photo: Alfredo Barraza, US Army Reserve)