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Sybil

by Flora Rheta Schreiber

3.88 · rating details · 13,759 ratings · 634 reviews

Here is the unbelievable yet true story of Sybil Dorsett, a survivor of terrible childhood abuse who as an adult was a victim of sudden and mysterious blackouts. What happened during those blackouts has made Sybil's experience one of the most famous psychological cases in the world.

Mass Market Paperback, 512 pages

Published April 1st 2009 by Grand Central Publishing (first published 1973)

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Oct 02, 2007

Brooke rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: anybody who is interested in the mysteries of the human mind

Another old book review from my blog:

This was one seriously fucked up book. I have never seen the movie but, of course, knew what I was in for when I got the book. The name "Sybil" is very well known, and carries some stigma, in pop culture.
However, I had no concept of the extent or the perversity of Sybil's mother's abuse which had been the prime instigation for Sybil's dissociations. When I was reading the sections describing what she had done to her daughter, I wa...moreAnother old book review from my blog:

This was one seriously fucked up book. I have never seen the movie but, of course, knew what I was in for when I got the book. The name "Sybil" is very well known, and carries some stigma, in pop culture.
However, I had no concept of the extent or the perversity of Sybil's mother's abuse which had been the prime instigation for Sybil's dissociations. When I was reading the sections describing what she had done to her daughter, I was literally beating my head with the book and saying "That's so fucked up!" out loud. (Good thing there was nobody around to hear me except for Magnum).

As far as writing style, I wouldn't say it was the best. A little too clinical in the language, and a little lacking in the dramatic elements. I am sure this is mostly due to the fact that the author (Flora Rheta Schreiber) was a psychiatrist, and this was one of her first (only?) novels. Not to mention that most of the conversations in the book were probably transcribed from tapes.

But despite slightly distracting writing quality imperfections, this book was completely absorbing. The more I got to know about Sybil and the strange ways her unconscious had devised to help her cope with her abusive childhood, the more I felt like I was losing my own mind. It was strange, to ponder upon the potential psychoses that our brains/minds are capable of. It seems that no matter how normal we might tell ourselves we are, there are so many things we can't remember....so many events in our childhoods that can only be known through other people telling us...it's frightening to wonder where those memories are, and if there is some unconscious self lying beneath our conscious personality that is hoarding those memories from us, or, from a different perspective, is protecting those memories...and yet they are inaccessible to our waking self.

These are the kind of things I found myself thinking about on the bus, or walking down the street, while reading this book. Also, it was my first step away from sci fi/fantasy in some time, and it opened my mind up to new knowledge of psychology and psychoanalysis that I found fascinating and plenty of food for thought.

I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in the mysteries of the human mind. (less)

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Mar 05, 2008

Sara rated it

· review of another edition

REALLY INTERESTING if you're at all into psychology or childhood trauma. This book is a true story, but it reads like a science-fiction at times just because it is so so sad and horrible.

If this book were better written and a little quicker paced I think it could easily become one of my favourites.

Only read this if you can stomach reading about horrible things happening to little children... Actually, I think everyone should read this just to realize how hard some peop...more

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Apr 13, 2008

Sara W rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, i-own-these-books

This was a very fascinating and at times very disturbing book. I probably would have given it 4 stars, but I made the mistake of looking up details about this woman online prior to finishing the book which really changed my feelings about the actual author and doctor involved. Apparently this woman's story is very controversial in the mental health field. Had I known that, I would have finished the book prior to looking up details online (more on this under "spoiler"), and I would s...moreThis was a very fascinating and at times very disturbing book. I probably would have given it 4 stars, but I made the mistake of looking up details about this woman online prior to finishing the book which really changed my feelings about the actual author and doctor involved. Apparently this woman's story is very controversial in the mental health field. Had I known that, I would have finished the book prior to looking up details online (more on this under "spoiler"), and I would suggest that if you read this book, don't look up stuff online until you finish it.

***SPOILER***

Ok, this spoiler isn't really about things in the book itself, but about the book's publication. Apparently it's not really clear if this woman actually had multiple personalities. Supposedly another doctor was asked if he wanted to be involved in this book, and he said no because he did not consider Sybil a multiple personality - he thought Sybil's main doctor led Sybil to believe she had multiple personalities. The author supposedly stated that the publisher wanted a book about a multiple personality, so they had to write it that way. Regardless of what is true, it really changed my perception of the book. What started out as fascinating to me suddenly looked like it was exploiting this poor, sick woman. It's even in the book that Sybil's main doctor introduces her to the author, and it seems like they wanted to write a book about Sybil before they even consulted her. By the end, I just felt like the doctor and author were trying to make a quick buck off of Sybil which was really sad because she trusted them (the profits of the book were apparently split three ways amongst the doctor, author and patient). In addition, the book has a "happy ending" finish, but that's not really how things turned out (although, in defense of the author, things may have been really good when the book was published - Sybil lived about another 25 years, so the sadder things I read about her may have occurred after the book came out).(less)

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Oct 22, 2008

Unisa Reni added it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-literature

Mungkin ini salah satu buku favorit saya sepanjang masa. Buku yang diadopsi dari 'kisah nyata' seorang gadis yang dilahirkan (tahun 1923) di keluarga dan lingkungan yang begitu menekan dirinya, baik fisik terutama secara kejiwaan.

Sybil kemudian mengalami MPD (multiple personality disorder) dan memiliki 16 kepribadian. Setiap kepribadian memiliki karakter dan nama sendiri. Kepribadian inti nyaris tidak mengenali pribadi-pribadi lainnya sehingga seringkali dia merasakan ada 'waktu yang...more

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Apr 02, 2008

Kelly rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

As a YA librarian I get tons upon tons of requests for A Child Called It, a fantastically horrible memoir about a childhood spent living with an abusive mother. I frequently get questions from other librarians that go something like "why do teens like to read that junk?" Well, it wasn't that long ago that adults all over the country were caught up in Sybil, a book that is the grandfather of the tragic childhood memoir.

When Sybil came to Dr. Wilbur for analysis, there wasn't...moreAs a YA librarian I get tons upon tons of requests for A Child Called It, a fantastically horrible memoir about a childhood spent living with an abusive mother. I frequently get questions from other librarians that go something like "why do teens like to read that junk?" Well, it wasn't that long ago that adults all over the country were caught up in Sybil, a book that is the grandfather of the tragic childhood memoir.

When Sybil came to Dr. Wilbur for analysis, there wasn't a lot of material on multiple personalities (now called dissociative identity disorder). Part of the way through the process of analysis, the doctor invited a writer to come and document the case since it was both rare and scarcely written about in the literature. The result is this book.

Schreiber does a so-so job of elucidating the psychoanalytic process between Wilber and Sybil for the reader. You get to hear about the details of Sybil's childhood including some pretty nasty bits about her abusive mother and absent father. Meeting all sixteen of her personalities and learning about the doctor's various hypotheses about their emergence is pretty interesting too. However the process of Sybil's integration will seem dated to today's reader. Dr. Wilbur's has a Freudian approach to psychoanalysis, which finds her focusing mostly on events in Sybil's childhood that she comes to believe are responsible for personality splits that began as early as age 2 1/2. Finally, it's only with hypnosis that the doctor is able to achieve any semblance of integration.

One of the weirdest aspects of the book are the passages in which the author refers to herself in the third person. During the course of writing the book, Schreiber, like Dr. Wilber, became friendly with her subject. While it's probably natural to become close to a subject during the course of what were probably intense interviews, it does through a certain light on the written material presented in the book.

I would recommend this book to people with a penchant for reading memoirs or for those that like to read about abnormal psychology. As a case study, Sybil remains one of the most controversial written accounts. It will probably remain controversial, as it is unlikely that her psychiatric files will be released and, I think, people will always be reluctant to believe that parents are capable of doing great harm to their own children if so inclined.(less)

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Sep 02, 2007

n rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: writers

While really unsettling, Sybil allowed me to realise the importance of the psychology of characters in one's writing. An interesting read of a somewhat controversial diagnosis (multiple personality/dissociative identity), Sybil is a must read for anyone interested in psychology.

How each personality is constructed reveals intimate details on how to create fictional characters or how to borrow from real people into characters of one's own.

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Oct 30, 2011

Alessandra Kelley rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: whackjobs, pseudoscience

A nasty piece of work. What's worse is it's a fraud. "Sibyl's" doctor manipulated her with drug dependency and emotional blackmail into agreeing with the doctor's pet theories about multiple personalities, which had catastrophic effects on psychology for decades.

It's like reading a transcript of a witch trial confession.

This book does a serious disservice to abuse victims.

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Aug 28, 2007

Maria rated it

· review of another edition

gue baca ini waktu masih kuliah.
Awalnya kita agak bingung, krn ceritanya seperti ngeloncat-loncat gak nyambung... tapi klo diterusin bagus banget. Kita akan dibawa untuk ngerasain gimana rasanya punya kepribadian ganda, apalagi sampe 16!
Ternyata masing2 pribadi itu punya kebiasaan yang totally different.. dan kerasnya usaha mereka untuk bisa nyatuin kepribadian itu...
Pokonya banyak pelajaran yang bisa diambil terutama ttg memahami pribadi lain.. (klo buat kita yang punya 1 kepr...more

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Aug 06, 2007

Lisa Vegan rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: those who enjoy fiction/nonfiction about mental illnesses

Shelves: reviewed, biography, non-fiction

I read this book in the mid 70s and I reread it a few times throughout the next decade or so. It tells a heartbreaking, fascinating and absorbing story of a woman with multiple personality disorder, which is a dissociative disorder. I’ve heard over the years that the story is more fiction than non-fiction, but I still like the book just as much as I did when I believed it was 100% true. A really sobering look at how childhood trauma can seriously affect one’s mental health. Extremely disturbing ...more

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Dec 19, 2011

Amy rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: disturbing-famlies, dysfunctional-family, mental-illness, therapy, abuse, incest, rape, recovery

Synopsis

Sybil Dorsett is a strange young woman working as a substitute teacher in New York City. She becomes incoherent while having a cut on her arm treated at a hospital emergency room. The psychiatrist on duty, Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, examines her and finds her talking and behaving as if she were a nine-year-old child. She suddenly returns to normal, and when the doctor questions her, she admits to having had blackout spells most of her life. Sybil agrees to continue treatment. She ask...moreSynopsis

Sybil Dorsett is a strange young woman working as a substitute teacher in New York City. She becomes incoherent while having a cut on her arm treated at a hospital emergency room. The psychiatrist on duty, Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, examines her and finds her talking and behaving as if she were a nine-year-old child. She suddenly returns to normal, and when the doctor questions her, she admits to having had blackout spells most of her life. Sybil agrees to continue treatment. She asks her father, Williard Dorsett, for financial assistance when he visits New York with his new wife. Instead, he suggests that Sybil return to live at home.
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A crisis develops when a stranger called Vicky telephones Dr. Wilbur in the middle of the night saying that Sybil is in a hotel room in Harlem contemplating suicide. The doctor finds her in a depressed state, again reverted to a childlike persona. Dr. Wilbur realizes that Sybil is suffering from multiple personality syndrome. At her next appointment, Sybil arrives in the character of Vicky, a confident and self-assured thirteen-year-old. Dr. Wilbur encounters other personalities through hypnosis: Vanessa, an accomplished pianist; Peggy, the troubled nine-year-old; Marsha, depressed and suicidal; even an old woman who is a surrogate grandmother. Through treatment, the psychiatrist discovers that Sybil’s deceased mother, Hattie, was behind the fragmentation of her personality. When she was growing up in rural Wisconsin, Sybil suffered terrible abuse as a child from her mother, who treated her daughter normally in front of her father and others, but mistreated her continually when they were alone, pushing her downstairs, burning her hand on the stove, and locking her in a storage bin in the barn. Each of Sybil’s personalities has different memories of the abuse, except for Sybil herself.

Another crisis develops when Sybil starts dating Richard, a street musician. After cooking Christmas dinner for Richard and Matt, his young son, Sybil starts acting irrationally. Hearing her say the name “Dr. Wilbur,” Richard calls the doctor, who warns him about her condition and tells him that she may become suicidal in the persona of Marsha. Richard prevents Sybil from jumping off the roof. When Dr. Wilbur arrives, he overhears Sybil telling her that she is in love with Richard but would prefer not to see him again until she is cured. Shortly afterward, Richard moves away. As Dr. Wilbur makes progress in treating Sybil, she encounters resistance just before she plans to leave for Chicago for a medical lecture. Sybil claims that she is faking, that there are no other personalities. After her Chicago conference, Dr. Wilbur drives to Sybil’s hometown in Wisconsin. She searches through her old house and finds purple crayon markings in the storage bin in the barn, confirmation that Sybil’s original story under hypnosis was true. The psychiatrist consults with Dr. Quinoness, the local physician, who reveals a series of shocking events from Sybil’s medical records. He confesses his shame in having taken no action at the time.

Returning to New York, Dr. Wilbur convinces Sybil to confront her most frightening memories. She recalls how her mother gave her enemas, forcing her to hold the water while her mother played Dvorak’s New World Symphony on the piano. When the water leaked out, her mother would tie her up and poke at her genital area with knives and hooks. Screaming, Sybil spoke aloud of her rage about the abuse she suffered. By reliving this most painful event, Sybil accepts all of Peggy’s memories, and the personalities merge. After this breakthrough, Sybil, with Dr. Wilbur’s help, is able to join with all of her other “selves” and become a whole person again.

Read more: Sybil (1976) - Overview, Synopsis, Critique - Wilbur, Mother, Sybil’s, and Abuse - JRank Articles http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/p...
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Dec 10, 2011

Ira syarif rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: psychology, cumi-cuma-minjem

Ini benar-benar buku yang menghabiskan energi dalam membacanya,but it is trully worthed. Secara sangat baik penulisnya Ms. Schreiber mampu menjelaskan Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) dengan cara yang tidak membingungkan pembacanya yang mungkin tidak punya latar belakang psikologi (seperti saya misalnya :D .

Sybil adalah gadis yang mengalami gangguan kepribadian ganda akibat trauma masa kecilnya yang disebabkan oleh kedua orang tuanya. Setiap kali dirinya berganti kepribadian Sybil t...more

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Nov 23, 2011

Mary Lynn rated it

· review of another edition

Ms. Flora Rheta Schreiber presents us with Sybil I. Dorsett, (the main character) a woman who appears to have Multiple Personality Disorder. (Dissociative Identity Disorder, as it is known today) The story begins with the famous scene known worldwide, "Sybil abruptly leaves her class and runs into the hallway and pushes the button for the elevator. Then all of a sudden she’s looking around, quite confused. She could have sworn that just seconds ago she was at Columbia University waiting for...moreMs. Flora Rheta Schreiber presents us with Sybil I. Dorsett, (the main character) a woman who appears to have Multiple Personality Disorder. (Dissociative Identity Disorder, as it is known today) The story begins with the famous scene known worldwide, "Sybil abruptly leaves her class and runs into the hallway and pushes the button for the elevator. Then all of a sudden she’s looking around, quite confused. She could have sworn that just seconds ago she was at Columbia University waiting for an elevator, but now she was outside in the middle of a snowstorm in a town unfamiliar to her, freezing to death". The author left out much needed emotion from this scene. I think a scene like this should of drew me in, making me excited about continuing on with the book or in the least given me and eerie feeling. I set my expectations for extremely high for this book and I was disappointed. The introduction of the alternating selves, in my opinion, did not nearly go into as much detail as was possible. Ms. Schreiber rushed the process of the initial introduction which I think was a terrible mistake. If it were not for the "Cast of Characters” which is a section in the beginning of the book that describes each personality, I would have been very confused as to who was who. Next we meet Dr. Connie Wilbur who in ten years not only becomes Sybil’s psychoanalyst but in my opinion her best friend. The overall story was of a child that was abused so traumatically she developed alternative selves to cope and fight back against her attackers. Each personality (again this is my opinion) represented or came to light when something so bad happened that the "Waking" (real Sybil) Sybil couldn't deal with it or was too frightened to be herself. As Sybil grew up everybody just thought she was strange but nobody helped her. Sybil was a very talented Artist (so were her personalities) each drew with a different medium. Sybil attended Columbia University, but hallway through her parents were phoned and said that Sybil needed help she was "nervous". That’s when it all began. That's when Sybil met Dr. Wilbur. Sybil's mom Hattie Dorsett didn't like Dr. Wilbur and screwed up an appointment or Sybil, then Dr. Wilbur moved. Sybil though it was her fault. Fast FWD: Sybil’s runs into Dr.Wilbur again and makes and appointment. On the day of the appointment, Sybil is nervous she doesn’t know how much to tell Dr.Wilbur. When she goes the appointment the decision is made for her by Peggy Lou Baldwin. (less)

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Sep 05, 2011

Axanna lucman rated it

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 26, 2009

Barky rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, mental-illness, multiple-personality-disorder, schizophrenia, families, biography, abusive-relationships, psychiatry, borrowed-from-the-library

Sybil is the story of Sybil Dorsett, one of the first documented cases of multiple personality disorder as diagnosed and treated by her psychiatrist, Dr. Cornelia Wilbur (all names changed to protect the identities of the individuals). Sybil experienced a lot of blank moments in her life – time lapses where she didn’t know where she had been or what she had been doing. These lapses were what eventually made her seek out psychiatric help. She grew up in a very restrictive and religious environ...moreSybil is the story of Sybil Dorsett, one of the first documented cases of multiple personality disorder as diagnosed and treated by her psychiatrist, Dr. Cornelia Wilbur (all names changed to protect the identities of the individuals). Sybil experienced a lot of blank moments in her life – time lapses where she didn’t know where she had been or what she had been doing. These lapses were what eventually made her seek out psychiatric help. She grew up in a very restrictive and religious environment, but that was the least of her problems. It was Sybil’s mother, a diagnosed but untreated schizophrenic, who made Sybil’s life completely unbearable. She was unable to escape from her mother who physically, sexually, and verbally abused her – telling her she was a bad girl and making her believe that this sort of treatment was normal and happened to everyone. Sybil’s father was oblivious and turned a blind eye to what his wife did – accepting her explanations for Sybil’s many injuries and her malnourishment. When Sybil could find no way out of her predicament, she dissociated and left pieces of her behind to deal with her fear, rage, and helplessness. The resulting “Sybil” was a much-stripped down version of her former self. Each of these selves, and there were sixteen, had to undergo therapy and treatment and analysis under Dr. Wilbur’s care, before they could be integrated into the main “Sybil.” It took several years to accomplish this feat, during which, Sybil had to face her fears and reclaim her emotions and memories as her own. As there were many terrible things for her to remember, the healing process took quite a long time.

This was fascinating in the same way that Dave Pelzer’s books are (recounting his own abuse – of a similar nature – by his mother). It was horrifying what Sybil went through, and amazing that she was able to seek help, find it, and accept it. I was curious to find out what happened to her after she received treatment and integrated her different personalities. Happily, I discovered she was able to lead a normal life (although she never married or had children), and suffered no relapses or dissociations. She did not attempt or commit suicide and died from breast cancer when she was in her 70’s.

Dr. Wilbur’s research into the history of mental illness in Sybil’s family really made me wonder how anyone manages to get out of their childhood mentally intact. People can be so fragile in some ways, and you never know what it is that’s going to affect them. Everyone in Sybil’s family – both sides – seemed to have serious issues. I guess people find ways to deal with what hurts them, and Sybil’s was to develop other people to take up her cause, since no one else outside of her would. (less)

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Dec 07, 2009

Maerdi rated it

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Recommended to Maerdi by: Megan

Shelves: psych

I felt the pacing in this book was a bit strange; the early part of the analysis dragged on for quite some time, and then as things became more interesting I felt that the story-line skipped along too quickly, leaving out many details. My reaction to this at the time was that the author was growing exhausted, but that's probably not a fair analysis of the choice.

In addition, my general dislike of (many of) Freud's theories were resurrected, though perhaps the end justifies (in some ...more

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Aug 26, 2009

White rated it

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I read this book during and awakening in my life. I was facing the dread of loneliness and despair at choices and trials I had voluntarily put myself in. Knowing I had no one to blame but myself, I gravitated to all of the psychological biographies and fictions that I could possibly find Messed up and out of sync with the person I was losing in myself, I began a reading spree toward these types of books.

This book was pretty good. It was ruthless in its drama. I actually found it...more

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Jun 15, 2009

Mrs_M rated it

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I read this book during and awakening in my life. I was facing the dread of lonliness and despair at choices and trials I had voluntarily put myself in. Knowing I had no one to blame but myself, I gravitated to all of the psycholicial biographies and fictions that I could possibly find Messed up and out of sync with the person I was losing in myself, I began a reading spree toward these types of books.

This book was pretty good. It was ruthless in its drama. I actually found it f...more

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Apr 28, 2009

Rhonda rated it

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Shelves: health-and-medical

It's funny how you read a book for the first time, especially for a specific field of study. You get a chance to examine it very closely and are able to dissect it carefully hoping to get at its underlying truths. The first time I read this book, I looked for flaws, unable to take it at face value. It was only years later that I am able to look back at it and take it at face value, such as it is.
The book is well written, but after the bizarre nature of the subject matter wears off, al...more

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Jul 25, 2011

Debra Darschewski rated it

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Wow...I saw the movie a long time ago with Sally Field but was too young to really grasp the significance of this being a true story of someone's life. This book was very interesting and compelled me to read more. It really focused on the point of view of Sybil and how she felt during her time of reintegration. I can only imagine the horror of going through life not only abused and mistreated by those who are supposed to love you with no support system, people around you noticing something i...more

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Feb 28, 2011

Kristine Lopez rated it

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Shelves: for-adults-experts-and-interested

This book is really EXTRAORDINARY! The way the author wrote it, the ways that the Doctor tried and did everything, and of Sybil losing and having hope. It made me value what I have now--not only the material things but also, I became really really very thankful to have the parents that I have now. This book not only teaches us the analysis of a patient that has Multiple Personality Disorder, but also it makes us value friendship, our parents, and ourselves. It's really an AMAZING book!

...moreThis book is really EXTRAORDINARY! The way the author wrote it, the ways that the Doctor tried and did everything, and of Sybil losing and having hope. It made me value what I have now--not only the material things but also, I became really really very thankful to have the parents that I have now. This book not only teaches us the analysis of a patient that has Multiple Personality Disorder, but also it makes us value friendship, our parents, and ourselves. It's really an AMAZING book!

One part of this that I've almost lost the will to continue was the part of the torture. I didn't want to continue because I can't take what was being done to Sybil--the person who had multiple personalities. It was in the middle part of the book. The part when there is only narration. ALL the PHYSICAL tortures that was done by her mother was there and mind you, it made me LOVE my mother more than 3x that I do now. The part here that really stuck in my head is the part of the masturbation. I can't believe a mother, the own mother, can put her finger, the holder of the knife, a bottle, and some other tools, in (..okay. this took me long enough to find an appropriate or a scientific word for this but I can't so...) between the thighs...you know what I mean. Anyway, I just want to share this conversation I had with a friend of mine that's a guy and is my classmate. So, I told him about the part of the masturbation that the mother did, he said after I finished telling him, "That hurts." I told him, "At least now you know the feeling." Not that I know, I've just read. :') He then replied, "I won't do that."
I won't tell you the whole story. It can be misunderstood here. So, anyway. We laughed after that. But my point is...See? Even a guy says it hurts! LOL.

BACK TO THE BOOK!

I actually read this because of my research in English. And because I am also interested about knowing all about this disorder. And let me tell you, I wrote a four-pages back to back facts on a yellow pad and I still haven't written some of the other facts that I have later read. SEE? It's really USEFUL IN A LOT OF, ALL SORTS OF, WAYS!!!! :)

In the end, it's all a happy ending and it's remarkable how the doctor, after 11 years, finally made the 16 Sybils into a ONE WHOLE Sybil. REALLY FASCINATING! :D THIS IS TOTALLY A GOOD READ! :D

P.S.
You see why it took me this long to read it even if I enjoyed it? It's because of the yellow pads! :)(less)

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Oct 12, 2011

Rebecca rated it

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Sometime in the late 70s, I watched a repeat of a popular TV miniseries aired just a few years before: Sybil. Even though at the time I didn't quite understand what Sally Field's mother was doing to her in the green kitchen (as I recall, network television never came out and actually said the word "enema"), I was thoroughly freaked out. Whenever I ran across it on television in the years since, I remembered Hattie, shuddered, and turned the channel to something else. I had no intere...moreSometime in the late 70s, I watched a repeat of a popular TV miniseries aired just a few years before: Sybil. Even though at the time I didn't quite understand what Sally Field's mother was doing to her in the green kitchen (as I recall, network television never came out and actually said the word "enema"), I was thoroughly freaked out. Whenever I ran across it on television in the years since, I remembered Hattie, shuddered, and turned the channel to something else. I had no interest in reading the book until I received a Goodreads newsletter earlier this month announcing the arrival in bookstores of Exposing Sybil, an expose of the hoax behind perhaps the most famous child abuse and multiple personality case of the 20th Century. Intrigued, I picked up Flora Rheta Schreiber's bestselling book to see what all the hoopla was about.

Going into Sybil with the knowledge that the case was a fake definitely changed my perception of the words on each page; I found myself unable to believe anyone in the Seventies took this story seriously. Putting aside the fact that three-and-a-half year old children do not remember entire complicated adult conversations forty years later, whether they're in therapy or not, Hattie's actions came across to this reader as the fevered fantasies of an ill woman who hates her cruel religious fundamentalist parents. Believe me, it's okay to hate your parents. Not everyone gets a good set. But the details? I know things were very, very different in the America of the teens, twenties, and thirties. Nobody talked about child abuse and mental illness outside the confines of the confessional or the doctor's office. No one took to the radio to share with their neighbors and fellow citizens across the country their inspirational stories of overcoming the effects of sexual abuse. However, I find it really, really hard to believe that an entire small town not only ignored a bruised and battered little girl, (Her childhood doctor treated the fractured larynx, the mangled vagina, years and years of hideous injuries, and never thought to reach out to the authorities?) but the neighborhood children Hattie was supposed to have abused never told their parents? The town ignored a wealthy, prominent woman shitting on their lawns in retaliation for social slights? They didn't see her sexual assignations with local teenage girls in semi-public places? Yes, the world was a different place, but town gossips would have talked, busybodies in high places would spoken to her husband about her behavior. There are monsters out there, there always have been, but good people, responsible people, haven't changed that much.

I have no doubt the creative and artistic Sybil Dorsett was a disturbed woman. Even without her sensitive, imaginative mind, it would be hell to be raised by a pair of fanatics. The author of Sybil's expose, Debbie Nathan, seems to have also been responsible for busting another great child abuse myth of the late 20th Century: those Satanic preschools indulging in ritual abuse that were the subject of mass hysteria in California in the 80s. Now that I've read Schreiber's book, I'll be interested to see what she has found.

(less)

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Jul 18, 2007

Thannasset rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction-psychology

Very well written for what it is--a true report of a very disturbed human from a disturbing life. Explicit torture, child abuse, psychiatric info--should be read with caution.

Similar book: I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, by
"Hannah Green" pseudonym.

Discuss please with some other human if you're reading these.

Thannasset

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Jul 04, 2011

Paula rated it

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The Story ~

Sybil is the true story of Sybil Dorsett (a pseudonym for Shirley Ardell Mason) who had Dissociative identity disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder). Sybil due to the trauma of her childhood created sixteen personalities (including her own), three of the personalities were created by two of the prominent personalities. The story explores the reasons why Sybil created the personalities and her road to integration of all of the personalities

What I thought of 'Sy...more

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Dec 26, 2011

Ashley rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-books, non-fiction, psychology

I had heard of Sybil, but didn't really know the story associated with her. I decided to pick this one up after winning Sybil Exposed by Debbie Nathan (First Reads). Since Nathan's book debunks the original, I wanted to know about it before reading Nathan's book.

In short, this was a crazy book. Sybil, the patient, has 16 personalities and was one of the first multiple personality disorder (MPD) patients identified. She was treated by psychoanalyst Dr. Connie Wilbur, who treated not ...moreI had heard of Sybil, but didn't really know the story associated with her. I decided to pick this one up after winning Sybil Exposed by Debbie Nathan (First Reads). Since Nathan's book debunks the original, I wanted to know about it before reading Nathan's book.

In short, this was a crazy book. Sybil, the patient, has 16 personalities and was one of the first multiple personality disorder (MPD) patients identified. She was treated by psychoanalyst Dr. Connie Wilbur, who treated not only Sybil, but Peggy Ann, Peggy Sue, Vicky, and two male personalities, Mike and Sid, in addition the remainder of Sybil's other personalities. When Sybil's multiple personalities took over, she "blacked out" and "lost time", and would come to often not knowing where she was or had she gotten there. In one instance, she came to in Philadelphia in a warehouse district in the middle of a snow storm (she was from NYC). She has clothes in her closet that she doesn't remember buying, paintings and drawings she doesn't remember doing, and runs into people who seem to know her intimately but who she can't even begin to recall.

Dr. Wilbur believes Sybil's multiple personalities were caused by traumatic events in her past that Sybil was unable to deal with; she this dissociatied and a multiple personality was created. By treating each personality and getting to the event that created them, Dr. Wilbur hopes that the personalities will integrate and Sybil can live a normal life. Schreiber, who wrote this book, was an ambitious journalist who chronicled Sybil's journey and treatment.

Sybil's childhood, if her recollections can be relied upon, were undoubtedly horrific. Her mother was a mean, abusive woman who put up a decent front that kept her treatment of her daughter under wraps. Sybil's father was purposefully ignorant, even though he admits that Sybil's black eyes, broken bones, being locked in a small box, and terror of a button hook were a bit suspicious. In that time, though, the women took care of the children and men didn't question them on that front.

While I hate to doubt claims of abuse, Dr. Wilbur doesn't seem like the most objective therapist - at times, her questions seem to be leading, she uses "truth serum" to help Sybil recall her past traumas, hyponotizes her, and seems to have gotten rather close with her patient. I'm interested to pick up Nathan's book and see her take on Sybil's story. (less)

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Oct 26, 2010

Kathy rated it

· review of another edition

I watched Sybil many years ago when the miniseries was on TV...maybe 35 years ago. Then I ordered the DVD and showed it to my abnormal psych students when I taught at our local high school. Finally, I read the book that tells a more complete story of Sybil Dorsett who suffers from multiple personality disorder.

Her disintegration into many "selves" began with the horrible, HORRIBLE abuse by her schizophrenic mother who was a pedophile, sadistic, and perverted. Add a father...more

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Jun 06, 2010

Helmisade rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: memoirs-and-biographies, non-fiction, human-mind

I remember watching a TV-documentary about a woman with multiple personalities years ago. That left me interested in the topic so when I came across this book I had to pick it up. Upon googling I discovered that this book is apparently very famous even though I had never heard of it before. Anyhow, I have many thoughts concerning this book:

- I thought the main story was very interesting and I liked Sybil from the beginning. I think her different thoughts during her therapy process we...more

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Jan 22, 2010

Sonia Gomes rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone, the grit and determination are amazing

Shelves: courage, good-but-not-fantastic, heartbreaking, mental-illness

The hard work that goes in trying to get your life back on track is heart warming but also heartbreaking.
Rearing a family is hard work and kids never know what their parents will be like.
Will they be abusive as Hattie Dorset was ? Will they be happy people putting in a lot of effort to rear their children with love and concern. Kids never know.
Hattie Dorset may be one of the extremes in society, but to some extent everyone abuses their kids, in benign ways like pushing them f...more

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Dec 24, 2008

Cass rated it

· review of another edition

Sybil blew my mind away. While the writing style itself could have used some work, it was very informative and I truly learned so much from reading this book. I have a certain "fascination," so to speak (for lack of better word), with mental disorders such as dissociative identity disorder, Stockholm syndrome, et cetera, and as horrific as Sybil's story was, it truly opened my mind to the many complexities of the human mind that we will never know about fully. To think that one's brain...more

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Apr 10, 2009

Fu rated it

· review of another edition

currently, i hate this book. i have read many, many horror stories of abuse...but sybil's mother, clearly mentally ill and forever to be undiagnosed, is pathetic and sad and horrific. i don't know if i'll finish this....so far it makes me want to vomit. seen the movie with sally field...that's much more tolerable..the mother in that film is nothing like what is portrayed in the book.

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Jul 16, 2007

Jeremy rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: some

Shelves: psychology, essay-memoir

One of the first looks at what is casually known as Multiple Personality Disorder this book does not necessarily make you a believer in the disorder, but is interesting anyways. I would recommend "When Rabbit Howls" if you are interested in this disorder and want a slightly more modern acount of it.

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Did it really happen?	10	123	Feb 06, 2012 08:35am
Is Sybil real?	5	40	Nov 30, 2011 04:27pm
Chicks On Lit: "True" StoriesThat Were Faked	9	123	Oct 26, 2011 12:06pm

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About Flora Rheta Schreiber

Flora Rheta Schreiber (April 24, 1918 - November 3, 1988), an American journalist, was the author of the 1973 bestseller Sybil, the story of a woman (identified years later as Shirley Ardell Mason) who suffered from Dissociative Identity Disorder.

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