sybil dorsett



For other persons of the same name, see Shirley Mason.
Shirley Ardell Mason

Shirley Ardell Mason
Born January 25, 1923(1923-01-25)
Died February 26, 1998 (aged 75)
Nationality  American
Other names Sybil Isabel Dorsett
Occupation Commercial artist
Known for Famous patient with dissociative identity disorder

Shirley Ardell Mason (January 25, 1923 – February 26, 1998) was an American psychiatric patient and commercial artist whose life was documented in 1973 in the book Sybil, which was dramatized in two films of the same name in 1976 and 2007. Both the book and the films used the name Sybil Isabel Dorsett to protect Mason's identity, though the 2007 remake stated Mason's name in its conclusion.

Contents

Biography

Mason was born and raised in Dodge Center, Minnesota, the only child of Walter Mason (a carpenter) and Martha Alice "Mattie" Hageman. In regard to Mason's mother: "...many people in Dodge Center say Mattie" — "Hattie" in the book — "was bizarre," according to Bettie Borst Christensen, who grew up across the street. "She had a witch-like laugh....She didn't laugh much, but when she did, it was like a screech." Christensen remembers Mason's mother walking around after dark, looking in the neighbors' windows. At one point Mason's mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia.[1]

In the early 1950s, Mason was a substitute teacher and a student at Columbia University. She had long suffered from blackouts and emotional breakdowns, and finally entered psychotherapy with Cornelia B. Wilbur, a Freudian psychiatrist. Their sessions together are the basis of the book.

Mason later moved to Lexington, Kentucky, where she taught art classes and ran an art gallery out of her home for many years. She died of breast cancer in 1998, at the age of 75.

Sybil

Main articles: Sybil (book), Sybil (1976 film), and Sybil (2007 film)

Sybil told the story of Mason, who was treated for multiple personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder) with reportedly up to 16 co-existing personalities. The book stated that Mason suffered from the condition as a result of severe sexual abuse at the hands of her mother, who Flora Rheta Schreiber believed was schizophrenic.[2] The book was turned into a movie, starring Sally Field, in 1976. The movie was remade in 2007 with Jessica Lange and Tammy Blanchard as Sybil in the title role.

Controversy

Mason's diagnosis has been challenged. Psychiatrist Herbert Spiegel saw Mason for several sessions while Wilbur was on vacation, and interpreted her symptoms to believe that Wilbur was manipulating Mason into behaving as a multiple when she was not one. Instead, Spiegel suspected Wilbur of having publicized Mason's case for financial gain; according to Spiegel, Wilbur responded to his assertion that Mason wasn't a multiple by saying the publisher wouldn't publish the book unless they said she was.[3] In August 1998, psychologist Robert Rieber of John Jay College challenged Mason's diagnosis, claiming she was instead an "extremely suggestible hysteric" and also stated he believed Wilbur had manipulated her in order to secure a book deal.[4][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.

References

  1. ^ Miller, Mark; Kantrowitz, Barbara (1999-01-25). "Unmasking Sybil. (Shirley Ardell Mason, the real-life Sybil)". Newsweek (Newsweek). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-53612353.html. 
  2. ^ Schreiber, Flora Rheta (1973). Sybil. New York: Warner Books, Inc.. p. 460. ISBN 0-446-35940-8. 
  3. ^ Borch-Jacobsen, M (1997-04-24). "Sybil-The Making of a Disease: An Interview with Dr. Herbert Spiegel". New York Review of Books 44 (7). http://www.astraeasweb.net/plural/spiegel.html. Retrieved 2009-04-02.  abstract
  4. ^ Rieber, R (1998). "Hypnosis, false memory and multiple personality: a trinity of affinity". History of Psychiatry 10 (37): 3–11. doi:10.1177/0957154X9901003701. 
  5. ^ Schreiber, Flora Rheta; Rieber, Robert W. (2006). The bifurcation of the self: the history and theory of dissociation and its disorders. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 0-387-27413-8. 
  6. ^ Lawrence, M (2008). "Review of Bifurcation of the Self: The history and theory of dissociation and its disorders". American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 50 (3): 273–283. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4087/is_200801/ai_n21279759. 

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Ardell_Mason"