'Sybil': "I have essentially been lying"

[Melanie]

so all that torture her mama put her through wasn't true? Well I'm glad it isn't (if that's the case), but dangit, why put the public through that nightmare! What a sicko (and everyone who helped her too).

MOO

Mel

 

[smart blonde]

I'd be curious to know her diagnosis now that MPD is off the table. Surely she has some serious issues, personality disorder?

Diagnosis: Con Artist

 

[Cappuccino]

I exhibit no surprise at all.

My diagnosis: Histrionic Personality Disorder.

 

[smart blonde]

I am not seeing any other reports of this think will wait and see what else comes to light before I say anything

~New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/magazine/a-girl-not-named-sybil.html

~Salon Magazine:
http://www.salon.com/2011/10/16/sybil_exposed_memory_lies_and_therapy/singleton/

~New York Post
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/...PI?utm_campaign=Post10&utm_source=Post10Alpha

 

[Kat]

Isn't there also a book going to be published? I thought I saw that, if so I'll read it.

 

[smart blonde]

Isn't there also a book going to be published? I thought I saw that, if so I'll read it.

Yes- I just saw that, too.

The book is called, 'Sybil Exposed- the Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case', written by Debbie Nathan.

~ Link to article in Salon Magazine, which features the book: http://www.salon.com/2011/10/16/sybil_exposed_memory_lies_and_therapy/singleton/

From the Salon Magazine article: The book tells "How three women fabricated the most famous case of multiple personality disorder, and damaged thousand's of souls".

~Here is the link for the book at Amazon.com, available for pre-order:
Amazon.com: Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case (9781439168271): Debbie Nathan: Books

 

[smart blonde]

At the Amazon.com link above, the book is already getting rave editorial reviews from Publisher's Weekly, etc. You can find the reviews about mid-way down the page.

(I almost like reading reviews as much as I like reading books themselves)!

 

[Soulmagent]

Okay so ,how many lawsuits from trama filled families with years of emotional injuries from being treated based of the case study of Shirely Mason does anyone think will fit in the can she just opened?

 

[21merc7]

Which personality denied it? Which personality wanted to make money off the denial? :giggle:

Wasn't all this discounted long ago?

 

[Cappuccino]

Okay so ,how many lawsuits from trama filled families with years of emotional injuries from being treated based of the case study of Shirely Mason does anyone think will fit in the can she just opened?

Probably none. I don't think anyone ever succesfully sued the authors or publishers of Michelle Remembers for all the damage that (very similar) book did.

 

[IWannaKnow]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...it-personality-memoir-Sybil-exposed-FAKE.html

Sally Field's 'Sybil' was a lie: Best-selling child abuse and split personality author exposed as a FAKE
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:52 AM on 17th October 2011

Questions over the book’s authenticity have remained decades after it was published, not least because all three protagonists are now dead.
Shirley Ardell Mason died of breast cancer in 1998. Wilbur had died in 1992 and Schreiber in 1988.

Terrribly convenient, IMO, for Nathan to publish her book NOW. Now that all the people she is accusing are dead and cannot refute her evidence. That letter has been there since 1958. Why hasn't anyone else ever jumped on that factoid? The book was published in 1973. That was 15 years before it was published. Maybe Schreiber wasn't the only one looking for a payday. :twocents:

In a 1958 letter held in the archives at New York’s John Jay College, Mason confessed that she didn't 'have any multiple personalities, ' the New York Post reported.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_(book)

Audiotapes that recorded conversations between Schreiber and Wilbur were examined by Dr. Herbert Spiegel and later by John Jay College of Criminal Justice academic Robert W. Rieber. Both these professionals concluded that Dr. Wilbur suggested multiple personalities to her client, whom they saw as a simple "hysteric". They also claimed that Wilbur and Schreiber fabricated most of the book, which is not a psychiatric case history but a novel with many details of the real case changed or removed.[4] The American Psychological Association recommends that Shirley Mason's case should no longer be cited as a 'classic example' of Multiple Personality Disorder.[5]

A review of Rieber's book Bifurcation of the Self by Mark Lawrence states that Rieber repeatedly distorted the evidence and left out a number of important facts about Mason's case, in order to advance his case against the validity of the diagnosis.[6]

The case remains controversial, as Wilbur's psychiatric files are sealed, and both she and Mason are deceased.

Note that John J College is where the letter was housed. How did Rieber get his hands on it, and is he the one who brought it to John J?? Perhaps he was also looking for a little payday??? :maddening:

Nice. Lets abuse the lady in death too.

 

[Kateyes]

I think I have the book around here somewhere and I think I never finished it ... least I don't remember much from it if I did

Perhaps due to a "repressed memory" ? lol

 

[wfgodot]

. That letter has been there since 1958. Why hasn't anyone else ever jumped on that factoid? The book was published in 1973. That was 15 years before it was published. Maybe Schreiber wasn't the only one looking for a payday. :twocents:

snip-snip

I agree with the sentiment of much you posted, but, here, fail to see the relevance of maligning the letter's truthfulness or applicability simply because it was written in '58, and the book not published till '73 - I could say "recently discovered, perhaps?" which would account for it, but I seem to remember mention of this letter years ago. One can't fault the author for recently publishing it, I don't think. And one does write for money, so I don't understand the "payday" argument. Lying about one's afflictions and then profiting from a book on same is, I think, a very different thing.

Rum case all the way 'round.

 

[Nova]

Nathan (the author of the book) has been researching and campaigning against the more extreme psychiatric fads for two decades.

It isn't news that many doctors believe that MPD is a psychiatric fraud. That has always been true. What's spectacular is that the "Sybil" case is being questioned because that case was so key in convincing the public that MPD exists. And the reason the book is coming out NOW is that the letter in question was held from researchers for a decade after the death of the writer and recipient.

But we shouldn't be misled that the argument for fraud here is based entirely on one letter. As another poster pointed out above, it's perfectly possible (in theory and if one believes anything about MPD is true) for a "controlling alter" to deny the existence of other alters in order to maintain control. The letter is only one of many pieces of evidence that the book and film "Sybil" should not be taken at face value.

Just from the book reviews it's obvious that Wilbur (the psychiatrist) violated almost every rule of ethical treatment. In particular, it's apparent Wilbur got "Sybil" addicted to sodium pentathol, then cut Sybil off, then used the drug as a reward whenever "Sybil" provided the stories the doctor wanted.

 

[Cappuccino]

She also got into bed with her on several occassions and gave her electric shock treatment. Its one of those cases where it sounds like the psychiatrist was madder than the patient.

 

[mysteriew]

Transcripts excerpts I read it appears that the shrink might be leading the patient a bit. Telling her that her Momma was bad and then asking her what else her Momma did to her.

And yes I noted the reference to the therapist crawling into bed with the patient, showering her with gifts, paying her rent and etc. Makes me wonder if perhaps they didn't have a little affair going on on the side.

 

[OR_Newshound]

Pretty convenient discovery
$$ Cha Ching

 

[LunaticFringe]

I have to ask this.Does anyone believe Truddi Chase?I remember her from Oprah many moons ago.

She was haunting to me as was the movie Sybil.Sybil is the most disturbing movie that I have ever seen.The enema on the kitchen table blows my damn mind.

 

[krimekat]

Maybe she is lying now, or one of her personalities is, just for the attention and the thrill.

that's what I am thinking . . .

 

[Mira]

Maybe she is lying now, or one of her personalities is, just for the attention and the thrill.

this is basically what i believe. she isnt here to defend herself, and neither are the other 2. i doubt if it was the 'thrill'. i think its made up for shock value and a buck. sad either way