Optical Allusionist

Shirley Mason was, among other things, forced to endure a nightly object rape and enema from her mother. We know her as "Sybil Dorsett." We also know her as the remarkable 16 personalitied miracle! Through the counseling of Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, Sybil was able to re-integrate the selves into a new "Sybil." The book about this story, by Flora Rheta Schreiber, and the movie, with Joann Woodward and Sally Field, are two of my favorites. They are both emotionally wrenching, and difficult to read/watch. They extract a vast amount of pain, memory, anger, and empathy from the reader/viewer. I would definitely say that this is a difficult story. Friends who have watched the movie in psychology (thank you, Mr. Wagstaff), are horrified and believe that the movie is an unnecessary retelling of a story we can only learn pain from. While I cannot agree with a publication of a story, whose sole purpose is a retelling (*koff A Child *ahem* Called It *koffkoff*), there are many things that can be learned from the story of Sybil Dorsett.


First of all, in the psychological stance, Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder) can be cured, or at least dealt with. Sybil was one of a few case studies that led us, as psychologists, solidly to the conclusion that victims of such a mental disorder are not helpless cases. Through extensive counseling, and possibly medication, they can integrate, like Sybil, the other selves, as to become a more complete being. As a note for those reading this post, MPD was renamed DID because of the misconception it created. The personalities are not separate people altogether. Rather, they are fragments of the core personality. Two of Sybil's personalities, Peggy Lou and Peggy Ann, were parts of the original Sybil. They were the parts of Sybil that were angry, and that were afraid, because Sybil, as a child, could not handle the intense fear and anger that she was feeling. Putting them into separate identities (or so it seemed) made it "safer" for her because she did not have to deal with those emotions. The personalities of someone with DID are a kind of barrier, usually put up to deal with the extreme stresses of life.


Another thing we can learn from Sybil is bravery. Not only through her early years as a child under her mother's thumb, but later, dealing with the disorder, she was a brave woman. She would not have thought of herself as it, but what would it take to continue to live, even though you don't know what will happen tomorrow, or even if you will be 'awake' for tomorrow. (When another self would 'take over', Sybil would not be... there. It was as if she hadn't lived during that time. She may wake up in a place she feels she's never been before. When she was in third grade, her grandmother died. She "left" at the funeral, and "woke up" two years later, when she was in fifth grade. During those two years, Peggy Ann had 'taken over.' This later caused many problems with Sybil's math skills, because she had not been present to learn many basic skills.) A barrier such as this one, does not indicate that Sybil was running away from a horrible reality, rather, she was protecting herself from it, so that she could better endure it.


There is a third thing we can learn from Sybil's story. Not all mothers were meant to raise children. Sybil was an only child. Before Sybil's birth, a doctor told Willard and Hattie, Sybil's parents, that Hattie was schizophrenic and unable to raise a child. Willard was an extreme traditionalist, and believed that all women were born with the genes to raise a child, and that the woman must do so. Hattie had grown up underneath her father's discouraging thumb, and gave in to Willard's insisting. She would raise the child. Although all women were originally made to have children, and many have the ability to raise a child, it is important to remember that, due to mental or emotional health-- as well as physical-- a woman may not be able to be a "successful" mother.


As a fourth and final lesson of what Sybil's story can teach, I'd like to speak on reality. Reality is not bad; it is not good. It is elation, and it is depression. It is the devil, and it is God. It is everything that is true. Everyone has their own reality. I will see Sybil's story different than any of you reading this post will see her story. Neither of us are completely right, yet, because we are both coming from completely different points of view. But Sybil's story is a part of reality. Abuse happens. It happens all around us. As a victim of abuse, I know it does. It happens in Chicago, in L.A., in Detroit, in Salt Lake City, in Happy Valley, and, for Sybil, in a little town in the middle of Wisconsin. This is a part of reality. As we focus on reality, we can change it. If we never look for what is wrong-- with the intent to change it into the better-- then it will never change.


Sybil has a lot to teach us, as does every story of all the people that surround us. Shirley Ann Mason went on to serve a successful, happy life. That's the true, final lesson. Things get better, as things get worse, if we stick to God's precepts. Heal for you. Find the truth. Find reality.