Sybil
Yolonda Greenfield Abnormal Psychology April 20, 2011 SYBIL
The movie Sybil depicts the life of Shirley Ardell Mason, a woman suffering from dissociative identity disorder as a result of the physical, emotional and psychological trauma she suffered as a child. With the help of her psychiatrist, Sybil gradually recalls the severe child abuse that led to the development of 13 different personalities. Sybil is a substitute teacher in NYC, and is confused and easily upset, she randomly losses chunks of times where her black outs last form a few minutes to a few years. Throughout the movie she always looks at her watch to figure out what day it is and where she is. In the movie Sybil breaks a window with her hand that results in a trip to the hospital where she meets Dr. Wilbur who is called because while the doctor is caring for her wound she is really confused about where she is and how she got the wound to begin with. In her therapy with Dr. Wilbur, she begins to truly explore the life of Sybil, and she finds she was raised by a very strict fundamentalist Christian minister and his wife who was believed to be paranoid schizophrenic. Throughout her whole life her father lived in denial and attempted to ignore it, as did the local pediatrician in her small town. Her father just did not believe that Sybil or her mother was ill. Sybil was emotionally, sexually and physically abused by a mother who was convinced in her paranoia that she was sending her to heaven. She used an enema to force water into her and then forced her to "hold" it. She inserted knives, button hooks, etc., into her vagina. She called to her to come for affection, and then would kick her down the stairs. She was even locked her in a wheat bin in the barn and left her for dead. The abuse that Sybil encountered was endless. As the movie continues Dr. Wilbur continues her treatment with Sybil and she ends up spending years in therapy with Dr. Wilbur, a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, who uses mind-
The movie Sybil depicts the life of Shirley Ardell Mason, a woman suffering from dissociative identity disorder as a result of the physical, emotional and psychological trauma she suffered as a child. With the help of her psychiatrist, Sybil gradually recalls the severe child abuse that led to the development of 13 different personalities. Sybil is a substitute teacher in NYC, and is confused and easily upset, she randomly losses chunks of times where her black outs last form a few minutes to a few years. Throughout the movie she always looks at her watch to figure out what day it is and where she is. In the movie Sybil breaks a window with her hand that results in a trip to the hospital where she meets Dr. Wilbur who is called because while the doctor is caring for her wound she is really confused about where she is and how she got the wound to begin with. In her therapy with Dr. Wilbur, she begins to truly explore the life of Sybil, and she finds she was raised by a very strict fundamentalist Christian minister and his wife who was believed to be paranoid schizophrenic. Throughout her whole life her father lived in denial and attempted to ignore it, as did the local pediatrician in her small town. Her father just did not believe that Sybil or her mother was ill. Sybil was emotionally, sexually and physically abused by a mother who was convinced in her paranoia that she was sending her to heaven. She used an enema to force water into her and then forced her to "hold" it. She inserted knives, button hooks, etc., into her vagina. She called to her to come for affection, and then would kick her down the stairs. She was even locked her in a wheat bin in the barn and left her for dead. The abuse that Sybil encountered was endless. As the movie continues Dr. Wilbur continues her treatment with Sybil and she ends up spending years in therapy with Dr. Wilbur, a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, who uses mind-