The movie Sybil, based on a book, portrays a powerful and rather accurate picture of a woman suffering from dissociative identity disorder (DID). The book by Flora Rheta Schreiber was actually made into two movies, one in 1976 (the one I’ll be discussing) and another in 2007, which was remade into a docudrama.
This movie was billed as a true story of a woman who suffered from dissociative identity disorder. However, according to Debbie Nathan, author of Sybil Exposed, the story is anything but the truth. He states that Shirley Ardell Mason, who has been rumoured to be the real Sybil, was emotionally unstable and seeked help from Dr. Connie Wilbur. In a short span of time, Shirley felt that she wasn’t getting any attention from Dr. Wilbur. Thus, she started acting as if she suffered from DID upon knowing that Dr. Wilbur has a special interest in the disorder. Dr. Wilbur then teamed up with Flora Rheta Schreiber, to work on a book on Shirley. Over time, Shirley started creating more personalities to gain emotional support from Dr. Wilbur. When Mason wrote a letter to Dr. Wilbur admitting she doesn’t suffer from the disorder and was merely faking it, Dr. Wilbur dismissed it. Nathan feels that Dr. Wilbur was blinded by her personal investment in this patient; emotionally and professionally.
Whether or the movie was based on a true story, the accuracy of the portrayal of the disorder has done a great job in educating audience on the symptoms as well as the effects of having such a disorder on a person’s life.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, all the diagnostic criteria for DID has been met. The first criterion is the presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self). This criterion has been met as Sybil has a total of 16 personalities; Victoria, Peggy, Marcia etc.
The second criterion is at least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control of the person’s behavior. This is also evident as when each of this personalities take over, Sybil behaves and even dresses in a different manner. For example, one of Sybil’s personality likes to hurt herself by breaking windows using her hand. The third criterion is inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. This has also been portrayed in the movie; Sybil can’t remember how she got into the pond in the beginning of the film and how she wakes up to find a messy room. The last criterion which has been met is the disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g. blackouts or chaotic behavior during Alcohol Intoxication) or a general medical condition (e.g., complex partial seizures).
Meanwhile, some rather famous movies on dissociative identity disorder include Secret Window, Fight Club, and Psycho.
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