Sybil: a name that conjures up enduring fascination for legions of obsessed fans who followed the nonfiction blockbuster from 1973 and the TV movie based on it—starring Sally Field and Joanne Woodward—about a woman named Sybil with sixteen different personalities. Sybil became both a pop phenomenon and a revolutionary force in the psychotherapy industry. The book rocketed multiple personality disorder (MPD) into public consciousness and played a major role in having the diagnosis added to the psychiatric bible, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. But what do we really know about how Sybil came to be? In her news-breaking book Sybil Exposed, journalist Debbie Nathan gives proof that the allegedly true story was largely fabricated. The actual identity of Sybil (Shirley Mason) has been available for some years, as has the idea that the book might have been exaggerated. But in Sybil Exposed, Nathan reveals what really powered the legend: a trio of women—the willing patient, her ambitious shrink, and the imaginative journalist who spun their story into bestseller gold.
Created by freepressbooks on Sep 18, 2011
Last updated: 10/13/11 at 11:01 AM
Shirley Mason dies while still in hiding, in this small house in Lexington, KY. Months later, an
investigator discovers that Shirley is Sybil. As a result, her psychiatric records are opened to public inspection.
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Dr. Wilbur dies. Lawsuits proliferate nationally, brought by angry ex-patients accusing psychotherapists of inducing multiple personalities that did not exist before the therapy, and of creating false memories of childhood sexual abuse that tear families apart. The psychiatric profession begins to discuss the possibility that MPD is a disease caused by cultural panic and bad psychotherapy.
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
Flora Schreiber dies. Her papers -- including Shirley's
psychiatric records -- are willed to a university archive. The psychiatric records are sealed. The public remains ignorant of the real identity of "Sybil."
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
Multiple Personality Disorder, heretofore an almost unheard
of and highly controversial illness, is officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, its treatment made reimbursable by insurance
companies. Cases of MPD explode in number, from practically
zero to the thousands. People, mainly women, begin "remembering"
horrible child sex abuse while are in therapy for the illness
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
By the end of the decade, six million copies have been sold, and a spin-off TV movie, starring Joanne Woodward and Sally Field, has been seen by one in five Americans. To keep her identity from being revealed, Shirley goes into
hiding.
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
Shirley has been in therapy for multiple personalities for
eleven years with Dr. Wilbur and is still ill. Dr. Wilbur gets a job at an enormous old mental hospital in small-town Appalachia, and tells Shirley she can no longer treat her. Shirley immediately gets well.
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
Dr. Wilbur meets journalist Flora Rheta Schreiber and decides to introduce her to Shirley. The three eventually decide to write the book together.
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
Shirley tells Dr. Wilbur she does not really have multiple
personalities but has been faking them. Dr. Wilbur refuses to believe the recantation. Shirley remains in therapy and produces additional personalities.
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
...and asks her to collaborate on a book about her illness. Shirley agrees. Dr. Wilbur starts her on a massive drug and electroshock regimen. Shirley becomes a drug
addict.
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
Shirley, who has spent years teaching art in the Midwest,
moves to New York City to begin a masters program in art education at
a local university. Six weeks later she drops in on Dr. Wilbur, who is
also living in New York City and working as a psychoanalyst. Once
again Shirley enters therapy with Dr. Wilbur. Within weeks she is acting as though she has multiple personalities. Dr. Wilbur decides she has multiple personality disorder -- an extremely rare disease.
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
Having recently received her medical degree, Dr. Cornelia
Wilbur moves to Omaha to practice psychiatry. Shirley becomes her patient. Connie talks to
Shirley about her own fascination with multiple personality disorder
and recommends books on the subject to Shirley.
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
Shirley is asked to leave college after suffering from recurring, mysterious blackouts. Doctors diagnose her as a "hysteric."
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
...then marries and takes on her husband's last name: Wilbur. The young Dr. Wilbur's mentor is a psychiatrist who is fascinated with multiple personality disorder. Connie also gets fascinated.
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
Shirley A. Mason is born in the tiny, agricultural community Dodge Center, MN
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Sybil-Exposed/Debbie-Nathan/9781439168271
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