Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case

by Debbie Nathan

The true story of the three women behind Sybil, the international bestseller and smash hit movie.
A bestselling book published in 1973, and a television movie starring Sally Field and Joanne Woodward, Sybil was both a pop culture phenomenon and a revolutionary force in the therapeutic industry. Sybil sold more than 6 million copies worldwide and influenced the way millions of people, young and old, saw themselves, their families, their sexuality, and their own psyches. Before Sybil was published, there had been fewer than 200 known cases of multiple personality disorder in history; afterwards, approximately 40,000 people were diagnosed with it in just a few years. Now in her news-breaking book, journalist Debbie Nathan gives proof that the supposed “true” story was largely fabricated.

Exposing Sybil combines fascinating, near mythic drama with serious journalism to reveal what really powered the a trio of women—the willing patient, her devoted shrink, and the ambitious journalist who spun their story into bestseller gold. Nathan followed an enormous trail of papers, records, photos, and tapes to unearth the lives of these three women and tell the real tale. The result is an intensely fascinating portrait not just of the pop culture phenomenon, but of the complex psychological factors that primed the nation to receive it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Biography, Mental Health, History, Science, Mental Illness

430 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Naomi Rhode · Rating 1 out of 5]

Concerned..Nathan's book full of untruths:

As Shirley Mason's closest living relative, I was close to her for the 30 plus years through the saga of her life journey. In fact, I was with her the weekend of her death, at her request, and was one of the only people that was in constant contact with her all those years. I kept her identity confidential at her fervent request. Through all these years up until literally the day before she died, she verified the complete accuracy of the book, 'Sybil'. I find it very interesting that Debbie Nathan did not come to the person closest to Shirley Mason for facts, but rather wove a web of suppositions that are not factual. Knowing Dr. Connie Wilbur, and Flora Shrieber also, the book concerns me greatly. It is an attack on their credibility, their research, and their professionalism. And, the book is a complete attack on the person I loved, Shirley Mason.
Naomi Rhode, cousin of Shirley Mason

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books I am reading do not usually give me nightmares, but this one did.

Long ago, when I was in graduate school studying psychology, I was known to say that the problem with a condition like multiple personality disorder (MPD) was that if a psychologist or psychiatrist suspected that a patient _might_ have such a condition, it would be nearly impossible not to imagine the potential gold mine (books, movies, publicity) that the patient could provide. Well, it turns out that in the case of one of the most famous cases of MPD, that's exactly what happened.

Ambitious, domineering psychiatrist (Wilbur) meets highly suggestible patient (Mason) with undiagnosed and untreated pernicious anemia who develops a monstrous crush on the therapist, and when the two of them run into a journalist (Schreiber) who is comfortable with bending and twisting the truth, Sybil is born. It's hard to entirely resist the inference that some kind of lesbian passion -- repressed or not -- helped fuel the folie a deux between Dr. Connie Wilbur and Shirley Mason. Flora Schreiber, at least, should have known better. The fact that the three of them incorporated Sybil reveals just how baldly the lure of money and fame fueled their collaboration.

Why am I so disturbed by this old story when all of the protagonists are long dead? Because MPD begat the wave of people remembering "repressed memories" of their parents doing things like roasting babies in the back yard. And that hysteria landed a bunch of child care providers in jail for committing crimes that were impossible and for which there was no evidence.

It's also a good example of a woman (Mason) with a very real medical condition (pernicious anemia) being diagnosed as having a psychiatric disorder. This is all too often the way that women's health issues (especially autoimmune diseases) are handled by the medical system.

As much as I enjoyed Toni Colette's terrific and funny turn as a woman with multiple personalities, it's important for the public to understand that real cases of MPD/DID are extremely rare -- if not non-existent.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has the stomach to read it. It's as involving as any page-turner, but the story it tells is ultimately horrifying.

(Note: The unabridged version of this review -- with pictures! -- is now on my blog, "Cuppa with Candace," at candacevan.wordpress.com.

[Stacia (the 2010 club) · Rating 2 out of 5]

IT WAS ALL A LIE...
...or was it?

A few decades back, there was a movie called Sybil which was sort of a buzz movie. Before that, the story was a book. I've never read the original book, but I have seen the movie a few times. Basically, the book was about this woman (whose named had been changed) and her experience with Multiple Personality Disorder (as it was called back then).

The movie was Crazy with a capital C. This chick had been raised by the mother of bizarre and had suffered through extreme abuse at the hands of this woman. Because of everything that "Sybil" had gone through, it was assumed that much of this abuse could have been a huge part of the reason why Sybil was forced inside of her own head to a place of needing extra personalities as a coping mechanism.

Or so we thought. According the author, there are public records (tapes, transcripts, etc. from therapy sessions) showing that some of the story might have either been fabricated or at the very least "coaxed" out of the patient through the use of extremely aggressive hypnotic and drug-induced therapy.

So I was reading this book...taking notes, highlighting passages, etc. I was interested to find that some of the story that I know might not be completely accurate.

But then the plot thickens... I logged onto GR to skim a few reviews and see what others were saying about the book and saw This review and the following comments.

I think I'm not going to touch this with a ten foot pole. I have no clue what's what.

Was the book interesting? I think it was in parts. Being as that I'm not the type of person who needs to know details going all the way back to the grandparents, there was a lot of info that didn't really interest me in particular, but it might have been fascinating to others. I was mainly curious to see what was behind the story of Sybil.

However, I did find out some very bizarre history about the early beginnings of the Seventh Day Adventist church. Enemas were apparently the "in" thing, and constipation led to sexual deviancy! Who knew?

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I was really surprised by the events that place in Sybil's life. I grew up hearing about that book and saw the movie and of course just thought it was pure fact. It was also a time when the theory that repressed memories were emerging as something likely to be causing what allied you. If the patient said it, it had to be factual. Only recently, have many of these theories been challenged and understood that the therapist played the key role in influencing the lost memory. Sybil was the first to have an ambitious publisher, a psychiatrist who liked the limelight, and a patient who relied heavily on her doctor. This is one interesting story. Definitely a fast and compelling read. 🤔

[Kym Gamble · Rating 1 out of 5]

So everybody jump on the bandwagon there's another book denying the reality of multiple personality well, it's called Dissociative Identity Disorder now, the MPD label was dropped back in 1994. This time it's the new book by Debbie Nathan called "Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case".

In interviews, Nathan states she has fact-checked the book and done years of research so I think to myself, much of it must be true right? Well, if it was, in a way yes - facts are facts. But the presentation of the facts can be in such a way as to make them seem more grandiose or less depending on what the author wants you to believe.

My first and continuing thought in all of this is "Why does this author want to write a book that could hurt so many people?" I have my thoughts on this but never find the answer in the book. It begins in the introduction that "Debbie Nathan gives proof that the allegedly true story was largely fabricated." and goes onto build what looks like a horror story of ghoulish proportions. It portends to have all the makings of a great fiction book; greed, sex, gore and maybe that's what this book was in all actuality - Fiction

Throughout the book you meet the individuals of the person known as Sybil, Dr. Cornelia Wilbur (her Psychiatrist) and Flora Rheta Schreiber (the person who writes the book Sybil). The style is confusing. The way she moves between people it's not easy to connect the dots unless you actually take her at her word that this is truth. Some of the historic facts about the women are rather interesting (if it is true). Learning about how they grew up and what challenges they faced actually made the book Sybil more believable to me.

Unfortunately, what I see is pieces of truth, interwoven with statements of the author's opinion and comments made to capture the reader with a sense of disgust. For example, when the author discusses the "truth" of Dr. Wilbur taking part in the early days of performing lobotomies, she uses this description, "Now she was also drilling holes in their skulls and turning their brains into pulp". Anyone familiar with the history of medicine knows that the practice of medicine has come a long way from its early days. Remember blood-letting (using leeches to drain people's blood to cure disease). The author takes facts out of context and makes them seem like you should be aghast.

The author continues this theme throughout the book even into her notes pages. For example, instead of saying "Mason's diary entry" she uses the terminology "All so-called diary material". This shows the disbelief and utter disdain the author has for Sybil although she will tell you that she believes that she was misguided and used by Dr. Wilbur and Flora Rheta Shreiber.

The author does not only try to debunk the Sybil story, she appears to have an agenda against anyone that believes in D.I.D or what she calls MPD/DID. Even in her epilogue, she takes to task the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) and some of its major contributors. Ironically, as I was doing research on the veracity of the book, I came across quite a heated debate between the author and members of the ISSTD. The author had been accused of portraying things improperly in the book and was not taking criticism well. This includes the fact that since the book has been out people are fact-checking the book and finding major errors in her work. A specific reference I can quote is one where she misquotes someone from the ISSTD. This person has written a letter advising what she actually stated to the author.

All in all, if you read the book critically and don't buy into the author's manipulation of facts and remember that none of the three woman she tries to condemn are here to dispute any of her claims, I think the book actually can be taken one of two ways... either as a really good book of fiction itself OR as proof that Sybil was true and that her primary guide through this thing we now know as D.I.D. did they very best she could knowing the time in which she experienced the things she did.

Otherwise, don't get caught up in all of the out of context "facts", the glaring agendas and the inflammatory language.

If you want to use this to fire yourself up... buy it but do so in real copy -- it's very hard to note and verify notes in the Kindle version. Better yet, get it from the library so you don't have to give her any more cash. It's not worth it. Otherwise, stick to something better because this really isn't worth the trouble

[Pat Goodwin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I remember when I read "Sybil". It was during my first year of college. Things were so different back then. We have to remember when reading Nathan's book that child protective laws were nil during that time. Children were considered chattel. Children and/or adult survivors didn't dare report child abuse to anyone. They were either punished or called liars. The idea that a person could 'tell' someone, especially privately, was brought to life in 'Sybil'. Dr. Wilbur listened and believed. It wasn't just therapists who were suddenly hearing stories of child abuse. Friends I had known my whole life read the book and told me their 'secrets'. They had been being sexually abused. It 'was' a social epidemic - the silence was broken. And child protective laws were finally being made.

Nathan would like us to believe that three woman 'created' a story that would catch public attention. That 'woman' ran to therapists with stories of abuse looking for attention - therapists 'created' personalities, etc. Before falling for this tale she has woven for us, read Sybil again. More likely and based on very solid research, the story of Sybil is true, and it finally gave survivors the strength to tell someone. Child abuse was rampant during that time, DID is a valid diagnosis caused by early childhood trauma, and therapists were doing what they could to help those who were coming forward.

She misstates many of the facts right out of 'Sybil', especially about the medication. It is well-know that Dr. Wilbur did not act unethically. Nathan is not qualified in the area of psychology, but makes assumption based on thin air.

Several years later, I studied the book 'Sybil' in more detail during my graduate studies in psychology. There is so very much 'valid' and documented research out there that makes Nathan's 'interviews', book citations, etc. laughable.

Good reading? No - boring - mostly. The only interest I had was wondering why 'she', or anyone would want to scandalize a piece of work that stands solidly on its own merit - a book that showed survivors that there are people out there who care, and that there is help available. The message is still in the book 'Sybil'. Yes, middle school children will read and know that they 'can' tell and someone will listen. It is okay. I think I will buy 3 more copies of 'Sybil'.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I abandoned this book one-third of the way through. The case of Sybil and her diagnosis of multiple personality disorder sounds interesting, and Debbie Nathan's writing is based on documents archived from the case that reportedly show the original story of Sybil was fabricated and the woman may have been coached to exaggerate her behavior and memories.

However, Nathan's book jumps all over and wasn't written coherently. Often I will try to push through on a nonfiction book, but this one just didn't work for me. Maybe you will like it more.

[Olivia Loccisano · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a piece of investigative journalism where the author is trying to poke holes in the original “Sybil” by Cornelia B. Wilbur. This book is so tedious and at sometimes, a reach by the author. I guess I just don’t really understand why or what Nathan is trying to say. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) was still being researched and understood when the Shirley Mason case was written about by her psychologist, and this context is missing when Nathan makes her serious claims of the book’s falsehood. Nathan’s claim that the story was an intentional fraud is all over the place and lacks depth and focus.

Nathan analyzes the popularity of the 1973 novel, implying that Mason was taken advantage of and that a false story of a DID diagnosis was applied to her.

I don’t have much else to say about this. It is quite boring except for the parts where Nathan describes the popularity of the “Sybil” novel and the kind of success and influence that the story had on its readers; and in the book’s final chapters when she goes into more detail about MPD.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in 1974 I read a book called Sybil. Starting in 1973 and continuing on through today millions of people worldwide have read that book. The only difference is now there's a disclaimer on the book.

Sybil tells the story of, well "Sybil" (a pseudonym) and how she had "blank spots", "lost time". She'd black out and wake up days later in a different city. It tells the story of how Sybil and her heroic psychiatrist battled for 11 years+ to reconcile Sybil's 16 separate personalities into a single whole...dramatic music, crescendo, drop curtain.

I, like I suppose most others who read the book was moved by the abuse suffered by, "Sybil". It was horrific. Under hypnosis "Sybil" recalled years of torture by her mother as her passive father turned a blind eye and ear to it all. This abuse caused her to develop multiple personalities.

The book we're discussing here, "Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case" tells another story. The records of the sessions between "Sybil" and her doctor had been sealed. Then a, resourceful researcher found who "Sybil" was (Shirley Ardell Mason) and that she was dead. This book by Debbie Mason is about what was found there and in later research from other sources once the search started.

The bottom line is (and it's no spoiler since I assume anyone reading this knows the subject...this is a nonfiction) the Sybil story was a fraud. That book was fiction.

This is a fairly interesting read. The first several chapters will I suspect be more interesting to the female audience as it's aimed directly toward them. Debbie Nathan is known as a "feminist journalist". She sees in the story of Shirley Ardell Mason (Sybil), Cornelia B. Wilbur (the doctor) and Flora Rheta Schreiber (the author of the book Sybil: The True & Extraordinary Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Separate Personalities) and the major upheaval in psychiatry and socioty itself as tied in with the struggle of women in general to break out of stereotypical rolls. The early chapters go back and look at the lives of these three women (so much so I began to wonder if we were going to be getting the argument that the fraud perpetrated was understandable. She didn't really go there.)

The book Sybil: The True & Extraordinary Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Separate Personalities actually brought about a change in the attitude toward Multiple Personalities. It was after the book that "Multiple Personality Disorder" became an actual diagnosis listed in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Aside from changing the diagnosis of multiple personality disorder from so rare as to be considered almost an anomaly to common Dr. Wilbur changed the idea of what may cause it. From the beginning she assumed that it "ALWAYS" went back to horrible, usually sexual abuse in childhood. She set up the treatment and study and it became set in stone to use hypnosis to "uncover" lost memories.

Also there was an epidemic of people (mostly women according to the writer) who started coming to psychiatrists thinking they had multiple personalities or were "dissociative". This ties into the writer's premise of women being under "role strain" and that the book Sybil placed the possibility of dissociative problems in their mind (this is a quick and dirty explanation and not precise at all. For more detail of course...read the book. )

There were over the next 20+ years an avalanche of parents who were "discovered" to have raped, tortured and abused their daughters. Parents, teachers, daycare workers all eventually began to be prosecuted for these offenses. Hurt and frightened parents and others exclaimed they never hurt their children but for years...YEARS this fell on deaf ears.

How many remember the McMartin preschool trial? (I do)It started in the early '80s. It (the trial) went on for seven years after it finally got started. It destroyed lives, ruined reputations and got HUGE news coverage. A preschool was supposed to be the home of a Satanic cult that raped and tortured the children of the preschool. None of the children could remember this however without professionals counseling them using dolls so the children could show using the dolls (or be shown on the dolls) what had happened. Many of the children, now adults have recanted their testimony and tried to explain how they were instructed.

A wave of panic swept across much of America's heartland that satanic cults were torturing children....

The final chapters run down the story of the women. "Sybil" and her doctor stayed together till the doctor died with "Sybil" visiting the doctor's home daily. The two of them seemed to have developed a strange sort of codependency.

The book isn't the best I've read and it wasn't as enthralling as I expected it to be. Many people (according to the writer mostly women) seem to have taken the book Sybil very to heart and wondered if possibly they had hidden personalities and so on. I was touched by the story of the cruelties heaped on a child. My interest here was in the story of the fraud.

Also, as I was reading this book a strange irony struck me...she did such a good job of showing how we were duped by the book Sybil: The True & Extraordinary Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Separate Personalities...I had to stop and think about this one.....oh well.

I skimmed much of this book and followed the actual story of what happened more than I did the speculation on the causes behind the fraud. Some will undoubtedly find these parts far more interesting. Take a look and see what you think. At the very least it's an amazing story of a book that changed attitudes all over the world and spawned epidemics of psychological problems.

[Wanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm. How to review this book. First, I am an informed reviewer in that I have a doctorate and have worked for many years in the mental health field, both in academe and clinically. Second, as any good scientist, I will put my biases out there. I think that MPD is a bunch of hooey that has never been shown empirically to be anything other than behavior. I read this book because I have published in the scholarly literature on the hooey and hysteria and extremism that has taken place around this very slippery construct that some people believe exists. However, this is not about belief. It is about science and the fact is that although dissociation is a well established phenomenon, MPD (DID) is not and has never been. Although, the true believers, like the vaccines cause autism bunch, will continue to insist that the construct exists and cite all sorts of anecdotal evidence to support their claim. I'm sure that the true believers will jump all over this review, the way that they jumped all over Acocella's book. But they really do not have a good position on which to stand. They generally ignore what is pointed out by way of anything but their own position, and they continue to point to research done by the MPD adherents, which is flawed and has been vetted through people who believe as they do. The brain scan stuff has been thoroughly debunked, and no one can say that MPD is anything other than a set of behaviors, whether iatrogenically induced or not. It is not even considered a diagnosis in some countries. So to preface, I refuse to argue the existence of the DID/MPD phenomenon because most people will not argue the case from the standpoint of the research. Anecdotes are not research. Moreover this review is about the book, not about the diagnosis.
Why did I read this book? Because I wanted to read about the context of and the history of the time that this fraud was perpetuated. In that regard, the author did a very nice job, although I thought that she should have also cited and referenced: Acocella, Joan (1999). Creating Hysteria: Women and Multiple Personality Disorder. Jossey-Bass. This was an excellent overview of the MPD, and in some ways a better book. Acocella was far more meticulous in her documentation than Mason's, although Acocella took the same hits that Mason is getting from the true believer crowd.
This book was an exposee. It was not scientific research and therefore should not be held to the same standards as a scholarly research study. That it was subjective (all research is to one degree or another, especially qualitative research) is not really germane. Mason was out to tell the story of what a monstrous psychiatrist did to a woman who may have had a physiological condition that went untreated. To say that Connie Wilbur was unethical, even by the standards of psychiatry in the 1950s, is an understatement. She was a monster -- worse than what she made "Sybil's" mother out to be. Projection perhaps? This book is about Wilbur and Schreiber and their unfettered ambition and in exposing them, Nathan does a pretty good job.
Where I think that she falters a bit is in failing to discuss WHY the diagnosis is so controversial and how the research into this phenomenon is so flawed. Most lay people (and some people who should know better) have a very poor understanding of what constitutes scientific inquiry and the nature of solid research versus anecdotal "evidence" and pseudoscience. If she brought up the issue of the research and how it has not stood up to scientific scrutiny, then she should have used the opportunity to follow up with a teachable moment.
The book would also have benefited by interviews of some widely respected psychiatric researchers. Although there were a few interviews with professionals who had known Wilbur, interviewing the community of professionals who help bring down the MPD fiasco of the 80s and 90s would have helped. A few interviews with sociologists or social psychologists would also have helped; especially to bolster the hypothesis that this hysteria was a function of repressed women coming of age at a time when men dominated. I, frankly, found this to be unsupported by any facts and highly speculative.
I also found her documentation to be annoyingly scant and her getting into the heads of people who are long dead to be less than convincing. If what Connie or Flora thought is based on diaries, then really she should have indicated that.
It would also have benefited by someone from the medical field's editing skills. The author writes that Flora died of a stroke and a heart attack. Uh, I don't think so. She died from one or the other, though she may have had both. Sloppy spots like this should be avoided if one is to be taken seriously as a conveyor of facts.
Overall, the book is flawed, but well written. I did learn something from it that I did not know in terms of how abusive Connie Wilbur was with respect to her patient(s) - and even in light of the times - how unethical. All in all, it was a cliff notes kind of approach to a very difficult subject, and it could have been a far more rigorous study of a shocking case of psychiatric malpractice and a phenomenon that helped light the fire of extremism that damaged untold women.

[Jenny Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book that should be read by anyone who trusts a psychiatrist, because they didn't stop being like the woman profiled in this book when the 80s ended.

I grew up among the psychiatrists of NYC in the 1950s, as my father worked with them, so nothing you would tell me about how screwed up and sexually abusive they were would surprise me. I also got involved with a very popular local therapist in the 1990s who was planting false memories in her patients using hypnosis. What an extremely unpleasant experience!

Because I'm a novelist and spend a lot of time in a hypnotic state when I make up completely fictional stories, I recognized the state the therapist induced with her hypnotic technique. I also recognized that the scenes she was making me recall, though vivid, were no more real than scenes I'd invented for my novels that took place on other planets. But for someone who wasn't familiar with the landscape of imagination, it would have been easy to believe that the scenes evoked by these dominating, abuse-obsessed therapists were real--and that would be psychologically devastating.

This book does an excellent job of showing just how this kind of emotionally manipulative, borderline-personality therapist goes about finding weak people and exploiting them for their own selfish needs.

This is a disturbing book, but one worth reading before you get involved with any therapist who "specializes" in childhood abuse. My experience had been that such people often charge far more than peers, and feel entitled to profit from the harm done to children. Their profiting is, all too often, yet more abuse those ex-child victims have to suffer.

Getting back to Sibyl, the off-the-wall psycho abuse scenarios implanted in people with emotional issues by these abusive therapists did a real disservice not only to their victims but to the many children who really were, and still are, abused by adults, because it makes it that much harder for them to be heard and helped.

If you do need therapy for this kind of problem, look for therapists who do not make you relive the abuse or pump you for juicy details. Successful healing from abuse involves getting in touch with the strong parts of your personality and learning to feel like a safe adult who can protect yourself. Good therapists help you be stronger and focus on how you live in the present. If yours isn't doing that, fire them.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was quite taken with the book Sybil when I read it years ago. It seemed to present a plausible explanation for a run-away semi-street teen I knew who could easily be hypnotised into various supposedly past-life personalities. Sometimes these personalities even broke through on their own. It was kind of scary to be around her at times. The book Sybil presented such "others" as multiple personalities created by childhood trauma. The scientific trappings and cure made for a neat package that appealed to me and many others. The happy ending gave me hope that the teen I had known may have recovered and was leading a full productive life.

As it turns out, the story is not true. While it is possible that the real life Sybil, Shirley Mason, believed it was true, Ms. Nathan presents clear evidence that elements of her story could not possibly have happened and that the methods used to bring out Shirley's other personalities could just as easily be used to implant false memories.

The book can be summed up in a single sentence: "Sybil is not a true story." Even if you know that going in, Sybil Exposed is well worth reading. Nathan's biographies of the three women involved in writing the Sybil book and the changing world they matured in is fascinating.

[Carrie Poppy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A+, a virtually unimpeachable piece of investigative, historical journalism. Read it.

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the course of reading this book, I went back and looked at summaries for the original Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities. I was in high school when I read the book but looking back from 2012 and my own age and experiences, I'm quite surprised anyone still believes this book to be true. The abuse is so outrageous and diverse nothing makes sense. It's like someone tried to think of every horrific thing anyone could every do to someone and fit it into the story. There's familar methods of childhood physical and sexual abuse but then there are weird add ons like lesbian sex circles in the woods and Satanic cults and trying to suffocate her in a grain silo thing. (From my understanding, it wouldn't be trying, it would be succeeding.) Then there are the similarities in the personalities, the similar names, and the one without a name. The book even contains a copy of a letter "Sybil" (Shirley Ardell Mason) wrote to her Psychiatrist Cornelia Wilbur admitting everything was made up. Mason admitted the same thing to another psychiatrist she saw while Wilbur was out of town. I think if I read Sybil now I would have trouble reading for laughing so much at how ridiculous it is. But then, as someone who has worked with abused kids for over 12 years, I know the real thing all too well.

But this review is about Sybil Exposed, not my own observations. Nathan does a good job of presenting the information clearly and concisely. She spends way too much time in the beginning on back story, starting out before Mason is even born. *Yawn* She goes into a lot of detail about Mason's early life but most of it isn't referenced and it's unclear how much is speculation, how much is from the book, and how much is from research. (And good heavens was she focused on how "rail thin" Mason was! I lost count of how many times Nathan referred to her that way.) She also includes too much of the biographies of Wilbur and the other woman in the case, the book writer Flora Schreiber. But once the actual story gets going the book becomes more interesting and flows more smoothly. I still found myself speed-reading because parts were rather monotonous.

The Good:
Nathan used hundreds (thousands?) of documents, tapes, and interviews for her book and she uses footnotes extensively throughout the text. She spoke with as many people as she could including doctors, friends, neighbors, relatives and so forth to supplement the tapes. She also doesn't just say that Wilbur gave Mason gobs of psychotropic medication but describes which medications, what common side-effects they have, what they are prescribed for now, and how they interact with each other (and she footnotes these). I checked the footnotes periodically, especially on those items that I found contentious and most of the time they referenced tapes or other appropriate materials. The ones I was worried about often referenced direct sources such as interviews which alleviated my concerns.

The Bad:
If you actually check the footnotes you'll see that some don't actually reference anything to backup a statement but to refer you to something mentioned in the text. For example, Nathan footnotes a passage where she claims Mason spent hours cutting out letters from magazines and sorting them into matchstick boxes in order or later use them to write stories without actually doing the physical act of writing. When you check the footnote, however, you are referred to the actual magazine archives which has nothing to do with what needs to be footnoted.

In the same paragraph she explains while doing this that she most likely saw an article on such and suck. The footnote again, refers you to the article and in no way gives any proof that Mason would have read such an article. This time of inference is often drawn: "quite probably" and "most likely" and "maybe" are often used in the book to describe something Mason may have done that could possibly have affected her later behavior. Some of these were extreme reaches like the articles, particularly one that appeared in a magazine a couple of months after Mason's father stopped subscribing to it. But Nathan says that Mason got magazines from other people sometimes and maybe one of them was that magazine and she maybe read that article. Really? And I may have read that article on penis envy that was in that magazine that was in that box of "please take me" freebies in my doctor's office but I didn't nor would I ever.

I don't have the book in front of me anymore but some critical stuff she doesn't footnote are on page 155 and the top of page 164.


The Ugly:
She really, really hates Schreiber. I see Schreiber as far less of a problem than Wilbur, who I think is about as evil as someone who doesn't believe in evil can think someone can be.* Nathan condemns Schreiber for using Mason's story to make a buck, but isn't that what Nathan is doing?

But despite all the problems, most of the points raised by Nathan don't need any significant documentation. Common sense and a brief review of what other Psychiatrists have publicly said about the Sybil case specifically and other "Multiple Personality Disorder"** cases in general will help in understanding what a profound con the original book was. I went into this book believing that there were actually people with multiple personalities because Sybil had been real, right? Halfway I began to question all of my preconceptions and began to supplement my readings. I came out of it convinced that what the media and books like Sybil and The Three Faces Of Eve try to make us believe is actually not what it appears to be at all but something much more sinister. Nathan's book is interesting and I believe far closer to the truth than Sybil but it's only an example of how mental illness is used to manipulate and confuse and to sell.

I really need to go get that next degree in psychology.


*That sentence is why my reviews are extra-special. ;)
**I purposely use that description because what is now called Disociative Personality Disorder isn't really the same thing.

[Shaun · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read in a long time is a non-fiction piece titled The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths.

A major point made in the book is that we often start out with beliefs and then spend our time reinforcing those beliefs, eventually accepting them as truths. I mean...it's obvious...or at least it becomes obvious when we routinely seek out sources that reinforce our bias while dismissing anything that challenges it.

Reading Nathan's criticism of the original Sybil in Sybil Exposed, I repeatedly got the feeling that this is the approach she took when writing this book. She approached the story as if Sybil's story was a fabrication, at its best--the result of emotionally driven feeling and opinion masquerading as indisputable fact and at its worst--the conscious distortion of reality motivated by greed and dishonesty.

Well, Mrs. Nathan, you seem to have a bad case of the same sort of bias that you accuse others of suffering from.

Apparently, Dr. Wilbur, Ms. Schreiber, and Ms. Mason were all conniving con artists, motivated by the desire to earn a quick buck, a much coveted claim to fame, and/or simply to foster an unhealthy "crush"/psychological dependence...and sometimes all three at once.

I have no doubt that some of what Mrs. Nathan reports resembles something close to the truth, but any echo of authenticity seems overshadowed by her own inability to report on the matter without extreme bias.

If Sybil were the complete fairy tale she claims it to be, it seems simply presenting "the facts" would be sufficient to debunk the story it tells. But Nathan's "story," which depends heavily on letters, notes, and interviews with "neighbors" many of whom were in their eighties and nineties when she interviewed them, seems somewhat hypocritical in its analysis. Nathan makes a point of showing how bias affects our beliefs and our motivations as she simultaneously allows her biases to affect her storytelling. She repeatedly reminds us that memories are easy to manipulate and imperfect as she depends on the memories of often minor players in Shirley's life to make her case.

But, hey, I'm reasonable. I realize that, historically, medicine is full of quackery. In my own lifetime, I've seen the science change. As a health care professional, I've seen fuzzy diagnoses like Fibromyalgia seem to appear out of nowhere and become the catchall for any case a doctor can't explain. That doesn't mean Fibromyalgia doesn't exist or that some people don't suffer from it. It just means that some things aren't always as clear cut as we'd like them to be.

Do people suffer from multiple personalities or dissociative identity disorder...probably. Did Shirley...maybe, and after reading both Sybil and Sybil Exposed, I "believe" that Connie (her therapist) and Shirley truly believed she did. But I can see it's possible that in her zest to help Shirley using methods that most certainly crossed the therapist patient line, Connie may have influenced Shirley's memories and ultimately refused to see anything but the truth she sought.

All that said, Mrs. Nathan, your book is still shameful, not because it doesn't offer some morsels of truth, but because it gives true meaning to the idiom, the pot calling the kettle black.

I wouldn't call it a waste of my time, though. I'm sincerely glad I read it in conjunction with the original. I think it illustrates beautifully how subjective the truth, reality, and "the facts" really are. It also highlights the complexity of the brain and our conscious experience of this elusive and subjective thing we call "truth."

[[Name Redacted] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended by my wife! We've both worked in the mental health field, and I've previously spoken about children I had worked with who faked all sorts of conditions, so this will be an intriguing read.

EDIT: And it was! A horrifying, depressing read, but intriguing! And I especially enjoyed the discussion of how the DSM is constructed based on the internal politics of the psychological community -- right down to lobbying, popularity, activism & backroom deals. So the next time you try to claim that there is any meaning to the DSM saying something is or is not recognized as a mental disorder, remember that that decision was entirely political, not a matter of "science." And that there have been many faddish "diagnoses" and many faddish REMOVALS of "diagnoses."

[Wendy-Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I saw that Net Galley was offering “Sybil Exposed” by Debbie Nathan for review, I knew that I had to get my hands on it. Ms. Nathan describes in different chapters, the lives of Shirley Mason (Sybil), Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, and Flora Schreiber (the author of Sybil), and how they come together to form Sybil Inc.

MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder) or DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) as they call it now has fascinated me since I read the book Sybil and saw the Sally Field television movie in high school. Back then I thought that it was a very disturbing and heartbreaking story especially since it was all “true.” After reading Sybil Exposed, I now know that almost all of it was fabricated just to achieve fame and fortune, but to whose expense? Sybil herself, which we learn is a girl named Shirley Mason. Shirley entered Dr. Wilbur’s office as an inspiring college art student who yes, had problems, but not to the extent she does after spending a lifetime under Dr. Wilbur’s care. During each therapy session, Dr. Wilbur gives Shirley intravenous sodium pentothal or truth serum (as well as other drugs and electroshocks) under hypnosis which drums up her different personalities and so called memories of childhood abuse. In today’s medical profession, practices such as these would be considered unethical.

Overall, I thought this was a well-researched enlightening look into the background of the “Sybil” phenomenon that sold over 6 million copies back in 1973. Is it fact or fiction? I guess we’ll never really know.

[PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure about the author, but when I saw the movie Sybil and read the book at age 12, I didn't think it was an absolute literal account of the story. Even in 7th grade, I realized that movies took some liberties to tell a more interesting story. The book fascinated me even more than the movie. I still have my original copy autographed by Flora Rita Schrieber, who I met at a signing for a different book. I never took the book to be an exact account of the story any more than I thought my Little House on the Prairie books were.
As a psychologist I believe that MPD, now called DID (dissociative identity disorder), is misunderstood and misdiagnosed, but is also a real, but rare, phenomenon. The author does not distinguish between traumatic and non traumatic dissociation. Clients can feel like different people, part that is competent at work, yet another part immature in relationships, which is far different than having separate identities. I believe that a small group of poorly trained therapists, may have misunderstood the diagnosis and that certain clients with personality disorders might have seen DID as a way to get their emotional needs met. I don't know if the author's suppositions are any more valid than the story of Sybil. I am troubled that she seemed to have a preconceived notion about inaccurate memories that her suppositions are slanted with these prejudices. Traumatic repression of abuse does occur, as do cases of misremembering. People can have accurate and inaccurate memories that are traumatic and that are non traumatic ("I swear I told you that story before.")
Surely, many of Dr. Wilbur's bordered on modern day malpractice and others certainly crossed the line. I do wonder, though, why the author is quicker to believe naysayers that those who believe the general facts, if not all the details, of Sybil's story.
The book is an easy read and the author did a lot of research. My issue is with the absoluteness of the author's claims that she has the legitimate truth.
If you're interested in Sybil, you'll like the book, as long as you take it as an opinion written without talking to any of the three principles.

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed in this book. I should preface by saying that I have no strongly held views about MPD one way or the other. As a lawyer, I, like the author, have been appalled by the injustices wrought by recovered memories, sexual abuse hysteria and the like. ON the other hand, child abuse, including sexual abuse, is all too real, still not easily acknowledged or addressed, especially in middle-class setings, and can cause very real and lasting psychological damage. So, my general bias would be to approach a story like Sybil's with scepticism, but not with disdain.

That said, I was fascinated by the book Sybil, which I read as a young girl (I vaguely remember the mini-series being a sensation but was too young to be allowed to watch it). But I also recall that we've known for a long time that the story was at a minimum, exaggerated, I remember feeling even on a first reading that the story just seemed too pat (especially the cure).

So, the breathless sense of revelation that Nathan brings to her subject seems somewhat misplaced. Beyond being shocked, shocked, that Sybil isn't the gospel, she brings a tone of outrage to nearly every facet of the story. She actually seems to believe that the tendency of some journalists to fabricate quotes, stories and sources can be pinpointed to a particular trend in the 1950s (when I would hazard a guess that those tendencies have been around as long as there have been stories to sell). And the sense of outrage that any non-fiction writer would "improve upon" the truth seems somewhat misplaced in someone who in that very book is vividly describing scenes from 70 years before, without the benefit of any eyewitnesses (except the memories of some octagenarians -- I'm always surprised when writers accept that people can remember the details of conversations 6 or 7 decades before, I certainly can't remember many specific scenes from my childhood and I'm quite a bit younger than that.).

Similarly, the vilification heaped on Wilbur and Schrieber seems somewhat one-sided, and un-nuanced, and for a woman who professes to be interested in the implications of her story for feminism, Nathan takes a rather unseemly relish in describing Flora's weight ("two hundred pounds of sheer avoirdupois", Nathan exclaims at one point - disgustedly and nonsensically -- by contrast, the anorexic and wasting Shirley is repeatedly described as beautiful), slovenliness, and difficult and unconventional love life. Wilbur for her part is nothing but mean, manipulative and hopelessly beninighted iin thinking she was doing "pure science", and, Nathan hints, a repressed lesbian (which, yes, maybe, but Nathan seems to find lesbians almost as fascinatingly repugnant as fat people).

The consequence of demonizing Wilbur is that Shirley's parents go from demons to saints in this telling, which again, yes, maybe, but how can we be sure -- and isn't it odd that Wilbur and Mrs. Mason have merely swapped roles from the original narrative and we still have a cruel mother inflicting virtually unthinkable tortures on poor Shirley/Sybil, just the names have changed. Nuance is not Nathan's strong point.

I could go on -- the inconsistencies are glaring, for example, Shirley is shown as being dependent on pill and shots in one scene, and then resisting medication because of her Adventist backrground in the next, the pacing terrible, nearly as much devoted to the history of 7th day adventism as to Shirley's "cure"....but the bottom line is that this book does not seem like serious journalism or good writing. The politics are superficial, the polemics grate, and the surprises few and far between.

[Marian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I truly could not finish this book. For someone reporting on the inadequacies of someone else's book, this reporters work is incredibly poor. Her reporting consists of statements like, "She PROBABLY met him when..." and "She MOST LIKELY went to..." What kind of reporting is that, particularly if your one and only goal is to discredit your very subjects? Gah, what a bad book.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Debbie Nathan, the very fine journalist who wrote Satan's Silence (with Nathan Snedeker), neatly eviscerates the Sybil myth. And yes, it is a myth.

Although I'll confess to being surprised that there are still people who believe that Sybil was non-fiction, such people apparently do still exist, and they should read this book. I can't guarantee that cognitive dissonance won't prevail (it usually does, thus explaining the continuing belief in stuff like supply-side economics and multiple personality disorder), but Nathan convincingly demonstrates that the story -- dreamed up, more or less, by poor "Sibyl"'s arrogant and grandiose psychiatrist Cornelia Wilbur -- was a load of rubbish from start to finish. Sybil, whose real name was Shirley Ann Mason, was indeed a very sick woman, but her woes weren't caused by Multiple Personality Disorder, which doesn't exist except in the minds of the very credulous. Instead, they were caused partly by pernicious anemia, partly by gaps in the knowledge of various medical professionals, and partly (probably mostly) by, you guessed it, Dr. Wilbur.

Although she certainly doesn't let Wilbur off the hook, Nathan can't, and doesn't, hold Wilbur entirely responsible for the mess Sybil made. She's also critical of much of the psychological establishment, which wholeheartedly embraced MPD and its successor-in-fact, the recovered memory hypothesis. And and as she did in Satan's Silence, Nathan also posits reasons that Sybil so captured the public imagination -- namely, the rise of feminism and changing expectations for women, which often left them feeling confused and ambivalent about their place in their own lives and their role in society. What better symbol than Sybil, a woman who was said to literally have 16 different selves, each one wholly unlike the other?

As usual for Nathan, she's given readers a well-balanced (which is not the same thing as "objective," btw) and well-written book.

(A side note: Some time ago, I suppose about six or seven years now, I wrote a Goodreads review of Sybil where noted, more or less in passing, that the book was fiction; I thought by then it was pretty well known that the story was more or less made up. But no: some lady left me a comment calling me an "arrogant cow" and noting, unsurprisingly, that she herself had 24 personalities or whatever. I took issue with the remark -- I am not a cow -- and deleted it, but now I rather wish I hadn't because in retrospect it was pretty funny. That'll learn me.)

[Bookreviewer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book and found it to be very biased, attacking the original Sybil story and the reality of MPD. The book "Sybil Exposed" left out important details of the story and MPD that did not back the book's agenda. Several factual inaccuracies have already been found in the book.

The book has several conclusions that do not fit the facts, especially the one that states Sybil admitted the story was "fake." Like many people, she briefly denied she had MPD, like other people deny other diagnoses or addictions. Sybil told others later in life that everything in the book was true.

A large portion of the book is the author's opinion about Sybil and MPD and does not fit all of the evidence about either. It is an opinion piece, molded to an agenda to discredit the Sybil story and MPD.

[Fredrik deBoer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An indispensable journalistic effort that points to the glaringly obvious fact that almost all instances of supposed "multiple personality disorder" have been invented, exaggerated, or prompted by an unscrupulous therapist or psychiatrist. "Sybil" (Shirley Mason) admitted in letters to her therapist that she never had multiple personalities, but rather discovered that the more bizarre and fanciful her story got, the more attention she received, which was obviously tempting for a woman who had suffered serious neglect in her life. Over time, as the woman who "treated" "Sybil" (Dr. Cornelia Wilbur) became a wealthy celebrity based on her exploitation, "Sybil" became more and more financially dependent on her. When "Sybil" threatened to admit that she had been making it all up, Wilbur threatened in turn to cut off all financial assistance. It's a textbook case in predatory psychiatry and one which has prompted the modern lunacy of thousands of adolescent women on TikTok pretending to have dissociative identity disorder.

And, of course, because this book challenges the abuse-maximalist narrative, the usual lunatics have it out for this book and are running wild in the reviews. But there never was a "Sybil," just a sad lonely woman who had been mistreated her whole life and the woman who was supposed to take care of her and who exploited her instead. Please consider reading and reviewing to counteract the "recovered memory"/Satanic panic crowd.

[Anita Dalton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a long overdue examination of the infamous multiple personality case that spawned the MPD and later the recovered memory movements in the United States. With sympathy for everyone involved, Nathan takes a hard look at the bizarre methodology and ruthless behaviors of Dr. Connie Wilbur, the willingness of Flora Rheta Schrieber to bend and make up facts to make her book seem more credible, and the life of Shirley Mason, the real Sybil, whose life was ruined and whose physical and mental health was destroyed at the hands of Dr. Wilbur.

There are many who are absolutely angry at this book and how it discusses the poor medical approaches used by Dr. Wilbur and exposing the truth behind the manipulations in the Sybil case (Shirley Mason was kept drugged to insensibility for years, she lived in a strange, jealous arrangement with Dr. Wilbur after Wilbur's husband died, and she suffered from pernicious anemia, a condition which explains everything Wilbur observed that made her immediately diagnose Sybil as having MPD before she ever saw an "alter" and so much more). These people think that discrediting the Sybil case somehow discredits the idea that atrocious abuse happens to children.

They're wrong. The Sybil case became a beacon for child abuse advocates and shined a light on child abuse, especially sexual abuse victims. But it also spawned hideous copycat books like When Rabbit Howls and Michelle Remembers, it created a bad protocol for dealing with memory in therapy and it created moral panics, like the Satanic Panic in the USA, wherein many therapeutic and law enforcement resources were wasted on shadows and diverted from real and less sensationalist abuse and people who entered therapy for mild problems left therapy shattered and estranged forever from their families.

This is an absolute must-read for anyone who is interested in how hoaxes can be perpetrated, sometimes with the best of intentions, and how the therapeutic community engaged in some really bad work stemming from Dr. Wilbur's famous case. Moreover, it is an excellent sleuth read as Nathan goes back in time and picks the case apart. Fascinating book, utterly fascinating.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading Sybil and seeing the movie. Horrified and intrigued, I felt for Sybil's pain and fear. Then I started hearing the rumors of it being faked. So I read this book with an open mind. I will say that Ms. Nathan really seems to have done intense research and made a strong case for Sybil being primarily fictionalized. A very sad concept for me to accept.

I will start by saying, the three women involved were each a mess on their own, but once they met and came up with idea for the book, things got much worse.

Sybil (or Shirley Mason) was definitely a troubled woman with serious emotional issues. But going to therapy with Dr. Wilbur was the beginning of a major what if scenario? had she gone to another therapist, would things have been different for her? better perhaps?

I do not fault Dr. Wilbur for her enthusiasm with trying to help others. But her methods were unethical at best and criminal at worst. Major drug usage - not just doses but combinations as well really were dangerous for Shirley and her other patients. And there was no one to tell her to stop either. Definitely a tale as to why we need ethical review standards.

What made me saddest, was so many of the changes used in the book were to make it less 'boring' by Ms. Schreiber. To me, that is not a license to take a 'true' story and add shock value etc... Truth was definitely lost along the way.

And the popularity of Sybil and what it stood for in our culture and mental health field changed so many things. Many false diagnoses, the whole phenomenon (on controversy) re. repressed memories and accuracy of information resulting from hypnosis and drug use.

I definitely believe people can abuse their children is horrifying ways, but it seems most of Sybil's abuse is not verified by any witnesses or evidence whatsoever. And the doctor took it all on faith and even the journalist questioned it at times. But money meant to much - or maybe fame.

Well worth reading!

[Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you need to take a comfort from this book, you can be thankful that the complete fabrication of Sybil means that no, that little girl did not suffer that sadistic abuse, as millions of readers were led to believe. That's about all the comfort that can be had. It is astonishing the lengths that Dr. Wilbur went to perpetrate multiple personality disorder, considering that according to this book she basically made the disorder up. It's fascinating to see the evolution of psychiatry over the years. As an aside, how glad should women be that we now live in an age where doctors know that thyroid problems are caused by wonky thyroids and not incestuous desires about your father?

[Cindy Knoke · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a young person I read the book, “Sybil,” with morbid fascination and some anxiety.

As a retired psychotherapist with over 27 years of clinical experience, I read the book, “Sybil Exposed,” with a combination of disgust, anger and sorrow.

I was licensed as a therapist in 1982 when the Multi-Personality-Disorder “movement” among mental health professionals was in full swing. I went to multiple symposiums and trainings on the subject, many required, due to the nature of my work with perpetrators and victims of child abuse.

I learned all about the “epidemic” of Satanic Cults murdering children. I lived through the various scandals such as McMartin Preschool debacle, and knew some of the players as colleagues. I saw parents whose children were taken away due to false memories implanted in them by their therapists. It was a time of hysteria in some parts of the mental health field and it was disturbing then, and now. The proponents were like members of a particularly vehement religious cult.

Before the publication of the book, “Sybil,” in 1973, there were approximately 200 documented cases of MPD. Several years after the book’s publication there were over 40,000 documented cases.

There is now substantial evidence that what is now called Disassociative Disorder exists. It is rather rare. Imagine how damaged the people who really had it were by all this media bruhaha, and misinformation.

Shirley Ardell Mason (Sybil) was a rather sweet, shy, high strung woman, with some emotional difficulties, and a tendency towards hysterical conversion symptoms (physical symptoms with psychological origins.) She came from a dysfunctional family, (I’ve yet to meet someone who hasn’t), with a rather perverse and domineering mother. Shirley’s difficulties could very likely have been ameliorated with the rather brief attention of a competent and ethical therapist.

Instead she began treatment with Cornelia Wilbur MD, a noted Psychiatrist. Cornelia than proceeded to commit basically every form of malpractice I can think of, short of sleeping with her patient, over the course of many years. Actually she did sleep with her, but probably never had sex with her.

She fed Shirley, a basically treatable, neurotic individual, very high does of sodium pentothal, stimulants, depressants, antixiolitics, psychedelics, anti-psychotics and electroshock therapy. It was under this “treatment” that Shirley’s alter personalities began to emerge, with the coaching and assistance of her psychiatrist. She also violated practically every therapeutic boundary, living with, traveling with, and employing her patient for years. She also repeatedly asserted that Shirley’s problems came from heinous child sex abuse at the hand of her mother, obstensively causing Shirley to develop multi-personalities as a defense.

This psychiatrist “treats Shirley for years, and then teams up with a journalist, Flora Schreiber, who writes the book, “Sybil,” with Dr. Wilbur’s coaching. Eventually it is make into a movie starring Sally Field. The psychiatrist and journalist form a for profit company called Sybil.Inc, to capitalize on the success of the book and movie. Dr. Wilbur builds a huge career for herself based on the book and movie, that damaged untold numbers of clients and their families, whose therapists were trained in, and employed, Dr. Wilbur’s methods.

It is just another chapter, in some of the disturbing history of the mental health profession.

And the media and movie industry as well.

It is important to note that many mental health professionals were strongly opposed to Dr. Wilbur’s methods. There was back then, a strong counter movement in the mental health field, to question Wilbur’s methods and findings, and cast doubt on her assertions on the prevalence of MPD. Herbert Spiegel MD, saw Shirley when Dr. Wilbur went on vacation and accused her of manipulating her patient for profit. Robert Reiber Psy.D, challenged Dr Wilbur’s assertions publicly and accused her of concocting her patient’s symptoms for profit. These are just a few examples. There was significant, contentious, push-back in the field over the MPD “epidemic.”

After Sybil finally disconnected herself from the clutches of her therapist, her symptoms began to subside. I will not wreck the book with a spoiler as there is much, much more that will happen, and this is not how the book ends.

It may surprise some contemporary therapists and clients alike, to know that although, Dr. Wilbur’s behavior was grossly inappropriate and extreme, I was in high school in the 1970’s (Sybil was published in 1973) and several of my friend’s parents were psychiatrists. The majority were decent, ethical people, but there were some who openly slept with their patients, took drugs with them etc. We knew because they invited us to their houses for our high school parties, and their patients/sex partners were there, with them, and us.

Today they would lose their licenses.

Strange times indeed.

Highly recommend this book.

It will aid in empowering clients to take control of their therapy, to seek second opinions, and to not go along with anything that seems wrong. I have included the following, which every client should be given a copy of by their therapist. If you aren’t feeling your therapy is going well, or are uncomfortable with something, talk to your therapist about it, and if you are not satisfied, seek a second opinion.

Here are your Bill of Rights:

Patients have the right to:

•Request and receive information about the therapist’s professional capabilities, including licensure, education, training, experience, professional association membership, specialization and limitations.
•Have written information about fees, payment methods, insurance reimbursement, number of sessions, substitutions (in cases of vacation and emergencies), and cancellation policies before beginning therapy.
•Receive respectful treatment that will be helpful to you.
•A safe environment, free from sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
•Ask questions about your therapy.
•Refuse to answer any question or disclose any information you choose not to reveal.
•Request and receive information from the therapist about your progress.
•Know the limits of confidentiality and the circumstances in which a therapist is legally required to disclose information to others.
•Know if there are supervisors, consultants, students, or others with whom your therapist will discuss your case.
•Refuse a particular type of treatment, or end treatment without obligation or harassment.
•Refuse electronic recording (but you may request it if you wish).
•Request and (in most cases) receive a summary of your file, including the diagnosis, your progress, and the type of treatment.
•Report unethical and illegal behavior by a therapist.
•Receive a second opinion at any time about your therapy or therapist’s methods.
•Have a copy of your file transferred to any therapist or agency you choose.
Poor Shirley. She deserved so much better than this.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first clue to Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities's questionable veracity is in the Introduction, before you even begin reading the highly sensationalist story: Schreiber proudly proclaims that "Sybil"'s reaction, upon seeing the book, was that "Every psychological [emphasis mine] fact is true." What does that actually mean?

Debbie Nathan tells us, in Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case. The book gets off to a bit of a slow start as we learn who Shirley Mason, a.k.a. Sybil, actually was. While some of the events of Shirley's childhood do dovetail with things described in Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities, when placed in context they are actually far more benign than Schreiber painted them. The more lurid and horrifyingly bizarre details were invented, Shirley's response to a vulnerable state induced by drugs and/or hypnosis in combination with persistent suggestion from her psychiatrist Dr. Wilbur. Many of these details were then embellished or even invented by Schreiber who was initially conflicted and apprehensive but managed to check her ethics at the door as she penned this story, billed as non-fiction. In a bombshell at the end of the book, we learn of an underlying and unexplored explanation for both Shirley's and her mother's difficulties which changes the picture even more drastically.

In the meantime, Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities's publication meant that Shirley, who was actually doing pretty well at the time, needed to dramatically adjust her lifestyle in order to protect her identity (and to safeguard the book's "truth" from fact-checking by suspicious individuals) resulting in a severe regression in her functioning. Dr. Wilbur earned much fame popularizing the Multiple Personality Disorder diagnosis, which spread like wildfire with the "Sybil" craze, while continuing to commit severe ethical violations, much to her patients' detriment. Schreiber was left holding the bag as she tried to defend Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities from various attacks on its veracity and her career took a sharp nosedive. Eventually, after Dr. Wilbur's death, the entire Multiple Personality Disorder diagnosis was called into question as legitimate skepticism increased.

Although I naturally had a professional interest in this story, I had a personal interest as well. This was a truly fascinating read for me as I struggled with postmodern questions about objective and subjective realities and professional ethics. How conscious was Dr. Wilbur of what she was doing? Did she really believe in what she was doing? Although Nathan paints Dr. Wilbur as a woman with an agenda, I wasn't sure how conscious her agenda was. I also don't know if I agreed with Nathan's emphasis on feminism as an influence in this story, although as someone who came of age in later decades I may be underestimating the context of the early 1970s.

It helped that I read Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities immediately prior to reading this book because it made comparison between the two narratives easier, but I think I would have appreciated the book even if I had not read Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities. Overall, a very interesting read for me.

[The Wee Hen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was 6 years old in 1976, the year the movie "Sybil" aired on television. I'm not quite certain why my mother allowed me to watch this movie as I was a rather overprotected child who was never exposed to anything disturbing if she could help it. Perhaps she didn't know exactly what she was letting me watch. But I do remember the movie vividly. And I remember watching it when it showed up as a rerun. I was fascinated, horrified and frightened by this story of a young woman, shattered into pieces in the prime of her life. The abuse she suffered at the hands of her very sick, sadistic mother compelled me. I was a lonely, hypersensitive only child, like Sybil, and I found myself identifying with her in strange ways. Within a few years I'd gotten my hands on the book (surprise, surprise, I was an incredibly precocious reader) and I was even more mesmerized. I remember distinctly reading the other enormously popular MPD books, Michelle Remembers and When Rabbit Howls in the next ten years.
I was a troubled teenager and became convinced that I must have been horribly abused by somebody and often begged the psychologist I was seeing to hypnotize me and find what I insisted had to be repressed memories. Looking back I believe I was a teenage "hysteric" and if Dr. Cornelia Wilbur had gotten her hands on me there's no telling how many psych units I might have wound up on. It was the mid-80's after all and the time was frightfully ripe for such things. But my therapist cast a dark eye upon the whole phenomena and said that she wouldn't embark upon such a path of treatment for me.
For years I felt intrigued by the subject of of MPD/DID and combed the web for blogs created by people diagnosed with with this psychiatric illness. And there used to be whole webrings of these people, allowing each personality to have his or her own homepage and providing tons of artwork drawn in the hands of their alters, so much like Sybil herself. It never occurred to me to question these people suffering so desperately in their private, confused hells.
But Debbie Nathan did. And this is the crux for me. Nathan has written extensively about the debunking of the McMartin Case (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin...) and about the phenomenon of repressed memories as related to Satanic Ritual Abuse. Well it appears that Nathan is intent on throwing out the baby with the bathwater and all cases of Dissociative Identity Disorder are to be called into question and dismissed as well.
Which I, personally, do not quite feel qualified yet to do. Perhaps I cling to beliefs held too close but these survivors of private hells who work so hard to feel safe in their own skins, which they feel they are forced to share with mysterious and often frightening strangers, are deeply sympathetic people to me. Nathan, on the other hand, seems only too excited to rip away this diagnosis.
Having said ALL that, I will tell you this is a brilliant book. Richly researched, written in a style so compelling and with a voice so strong, I found it to be a page-turner I hated to put down. The story of Flora Rita Schreiber, Dr. Cornelia Wilbur and Shirley Mason turns out to be one about the difficulties of being a female misfit in the early 20th century. All were women not intent upon marriage and babies, but upon their own interior selves and the struggle to achieve fulfillment. Shirley was a frustrated artist, self-tormented by a religion she held close too her heart and which prohibited her creativity. Connie Wilbur was the child of a famous scientist and wanted to not only live up to her father but to surpass him with her own career, by any and all means possible. Flora was an immensely talented young writer, driven hard to success and intensely hungry for fame and riches.
Unfortunately each of these women found their way to each other and poor Shirley wound up sacrificing her entire life to the creation of Sybil, Inc. The extraordinary story of the production of the "Sybil" myth set these women onto a road that brought out the very worst in all of them. Nathan viciously takes Flora, Connie & Shirley apart, exposing a fraud quite shocking. Wilbur was determined to find herself a "Multiple" almost from the inception of her career. Shirley was desperate for attention and love as well as a card-carrying "hysteric" intent upon making herself into whatever her doctor wanted her to be. Heavy doses of intense drugs and hypnotism were the tools Wilbur chose to craft her patient's "hysteria" into a severe and shocking case of MPD. Flora was reluctantly willing to take the facts of the case and add whatever she deemed was necessary to make it dramatic enough to be a salacious and abominable tell-all in the early 1970's, a time of culture-wide sexual awakening and permissiveness not yet known. Everybody was in this for themselves and their motives seem to be highly distasteful. And Nathan can't seem to relish in it enough.
Do I still believe in stories of DID? I'm not sure. Do I believe the "Sybil" myth was real. No, I do not. Do I think Nathan has a bit of an axe to grind? Yes, rather.
Really, really good read though!

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once in a while, a book comes along that provides a jaw dropping moment in almost every chapter. This is one such book. Nathan's methods of research and the manner in which she dissects the myth of Sybil are so fantastic that I cannot help but hear Kelso's voice (from That '70s Show) saying, "Burn!" every time she chips away at another dearly held belief. The evidence presented is so solid it will destroy your previous notions. So many people fell in love with the story, the fragile but surprisingly strong heroin, the champion doctor, and the strange and wonderful things the human mind can do in the face of severe trauma. If you are are in love with that narrative and do not want it destroyed, in the strongest, juiciest, and most interesting way possible, don't read this book. Your ideals of Sybil and helpful Dr. Wilbur not survive.

How do you create a Sybil? Nathan can lay it out, step by step, for you. I enjoyed every page of this book. Nathan does a great job of sifting out fact from fiction (oh so much fiction). She fully understands what dissociation is and how it can be useful but also fully understands how it was exploited to provide a story that we all craved, one that satiated our need for novelty and oddity. Sybil was gaper porn. We got to see, or we thought we got to see, the most private, humiliating, and crazy parts of a mind destroyed before it triumphed once again. But what did we really see?

This sentiments in this book honor and respect the difficulties people encounter in life but warns how those difficulties can be compounded by those who "help," sometimes ensuring the patient sinks into something much deeper and darker. This is a story about human beings, belief, need, love, care, mistakes, greed, and so many other all-too-human feelings that muddy the waters of clarity.


I will never forget reading I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. I had the same romantic ideals about that book that I had about Sybil. I love when authors come along and destroy what people tend to hold sacred, and this author did it in the most delicious way! Bravo! A+