Sybil...A few thoughts.

Last night (and this morning) I watched Sybil, the movie, for the first time. I'd never read the book either so this was my first experience with the entire situation.

I have to say that Sally Field and Joanne Woodward did an amazing acting job in that movie and the premise of it all just broke my heart. Here was a woman who was so abused in childhood that she split into 16 different "people"? For those of you who've seen the movie, I cheered when Richard stayed and helped Sybil after he awoke to her climbing the bookcase.

Anyway, for some reason the DVR only record 3 hrs and 3 minutes of the 4 hour movie. So I was doing some research this morning on the internet. Sadly, most of what I've been reading indicates that "Sybil" (Shirley Mason in real-life) was not a multiple and that Dr. Wilbur actually coerced and created those personalities during therapy. That makes me more sad than I was when I was watching the movie. This poor, damaged soul went to someone for help and was taken advantage of without even realizing it. No wonder she followed Dr. Wilbur for the rest of her life.

In a way, aren't we all like Sybil? Each personality was different from the next. One was self-assured & sophisticated. Another was assertive & often angry. Yet another was fearful. Another personality was thoughtful, contemplative & a homeloving person. "Marcia" was extremely emotional. "Vanessa" was intensely dramatic. "Helen" was determined to achieve fulfillment. "Marjorie" was vivacious & quick to laugh. "The blonde" (a nameless personality) was a perpetual teenager.

I can see each of those characteristics not only in myself but in everyone I know. We all have those same components in each of our personalities. To me, that lends more certainty that Dr. Wilbur completely manipulated Ms. Mason during therapy. What has me leaning more in the direction of manipulation is that in 1973, prior to the publication of the book, psychiatrists reported less than 200 cases worldwide of multiple personality disorder in the history of the world. The number of cases diagnosed in North America alone between 1976 and 1998? 40,000! Of course, the devil's advocate in me says that the main difference between people with MPD/DID (Multiple Personality Disorder/Disassociative Personality Disorder) are that I, and everyone I know, can seamlessly integrate each aspect of our personality into a whole being. Those suffering from MPD/DID cannot. Maybe the book & movie finally gave people with this disorder the courage to seek therapy & that explains the large increase in cases.

I'm not sure what the true answer is. I remember the hysteria of Child Abuse accusations in the early-mid 80s and looking back I wonder how many people's lives that hysteria ruined.

Why am I blogging about this? I don't know, really. Just something that got me intrigued. Another issue that seems to rip away the curtain of "reality" and show me that even when we think we know something we never truly know what's going on around us and we never truly have all the facts. Somewhere a mother is rejoicing that Saddam has been hanged, while a wife and children are crying for the father they've lost. Somewhere someone's glad the holidays are coming to a close while someone else is sad to see it be over for another year.

Me? I'll just put that curtain back in place and carry on with my life like I always do. I prefer to be blinded to the truth around me, most of the time anyway.

Happy New Year!

A few of my sources:

FMS Online (False Memory Syndrome Foundation)
Religious Tolerance.org (4th quote from the top)
BBC UK - Horizon (contains a transcript of the program)
Ace Weekly (a weekly newspaper from Lexington, KY where Shirley Mason lived)
Reasons for Caution about Diagnosis of MPD/DID