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Summary: SYBIL
Review: All I have to say is that this was a fabulous book that anyone, interested in psychology or not, should really take a look at!
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Summary: E PLURIBUS UNUM - OUT OF MANY IS ONE
Review: The case history of "Sybil" brought the mental malady of multiple personality disorder to the general public. Prior to the accounts of "Eve" (Chris Sizemore, the world's most famous person to have survived with this disorder) and "Sybil," many misperceptions about the illness were touted as fact. For example, many experts discounted the existence of multiple personality disorder and often saw it as a form of malingering.Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, who died in 1994 made psychiatric history with Sybil. Together they work to pierce the "Clock Incomprehensible," fugue states where Sybil cannot account for her whereabouts or actions. During their several years of hard work together, doctor and patient uncover a total of 16 separate and distinct personalities. Born in 1923, Sybil's various "selves" were "born" over 20-year time span, from 1926 to 1946. Vanessa is the only personality who is able to play the piano. Mike and Sid are her male personalities. Vicky is her cosmopolitan, cultured personality. Vicky and Vanessa appear to be the most appealing personalities and all 16 were created to cope with Sybil's psychotic mother. Angry and dangerously mentally ill, the woman had a history of sexually abusing children. Sybil remembered seeing the mother naked and bouncing a naked neighbor's baby between her legs. The mother would also defecate on neighbor's lawns. She inserted objects into Sybil's body almost from the time Sybil was an infant; she forced the girl to drink laxatives and refused to let her release solid waste; she suspended her from the ceiling; she choked her; left her in a corn crib to smother; beat her with an array of sundry objects and permanently scarred her body with a button hook. Sybil's father appears to be singularly ineffectual; he dodges the mother and years later claims to have had no knowledge of the woman's extreme cruelty. Sybil's acceptance of the personalities takes time as well. Dr. Wilbur uses hypnosis to fuse the personalities and after several hypnotherapy sessions, Sybil agrees to accept all of the personalities and their abilities be merged into one, herself. By 1965 Sybil is an "integrated" unit. A gifted artist, several of Sybil's personalities drew and painted. The real Sybil died in 1998 and her profession was listed as "artist."
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Summary: A powerful work everyone should read!
Review: My sister read this book for a college psychology class when I was around 8 or 9 and I remember her speaking of it incredulously. I finally read it when I was a bit older, and became so fascinated by the case of Sybil and her inner struggle for self-discovery. The film version with Sally Field was brilliant! I have read and re-read this book, endlessly engrossed with the whole issue of multiple personality and the sad, frightening reality of child abuse. Sybil is such a courageous, yet tragic person. I was saddened to hear of her death, but believe by coming forward during her frightening ordeal she has helped many of others struggling with a similar situation. In a class by itself. See the movie too!
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Summary: A fascinating account.
Review: Anyone interested in abnormal pschology will find this book fascinating! That the human brain can, for it's own protection, protect each facet of one's life by separating sub-conciously is amazing! The things we've yet to learn about the human brain! I found this book inspiring! Particularly in the end where letters Sybil wrote to Dr. Wilbur after her cure are published. I never before thought to be thankful for having control for one whole day! I always thought that 24 hours in a day was too short, but after reading this account of a woman who didn't even have 24 hours a day, I appreciate mine like never before! Sybit writes about what a lot can be accomplished in 24 hours when every hour, minute, and second is all yours, to share with no one else! I appreciate life now like never before and realize how fortunate I've been in my life, always having had all my hours, minutes and seconds to myself, while this woman and many others like her had to wait until her mid-forties to control every hour, minute, and second! And still, she wasn't bitter! She simply appreciated all that she had right then. What a lesson we all can take from that! I don't want to waste a word or a minute on the irrational people who still claim that this malady doesn't exist, come on, how long can you hide your head in the sand? Shame on the destructive influences and people who deny the pain that many suffer. I hope they never have to go through anything so horrific.
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Summary: great for educational perpuces
Review: I am a high school student. I read this book for my psychology project. I think it is one of the most well written books I have ever read. It is about a woman who was abused by her mother when she was young child and that resulted in multiple personality. The person suffering from multiple personality is a woman called Sybil Isabel Dorsett. Sybil sometimes gets afraid of losing herself and is more afraid when she does not know what happened or where she is. Her doctor, Dr Wilbur has taken a mass amount of time to help Sybil and Dr. Wilbur has tremendous percents with Sybil and has hopes that she will get better. Sybil is an amazing person. Her determination to help herslf get better is astonishing. The book was written so well that it was easy for me to follow Sybil and understand what she was thinking, hopping, feeling and doing. This book follows Sybil through her trials and votaries of her life. I have learnt a large mount on what happens to people with multiple personality. It really effects everyone around them and makes people think how lucky they are to have one mind and know who they are. I find this book inspiring and most interesting to read that you can not put it down.
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Summary: this book changed my lfie
Review: I am so thankful to "Sybil" and Cornelia Wilbur for being brave enough to publish this story, as this was how my psychologist and psychiatrist learned about MPD, and subsequently, how to successfully treat me. If anyone doubts the validity and legitimacy of MPD/DID, it absolutely is a true occurrence. It is caused by severe physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in early childhood. Unless you have been there, you can't understand the immense strength and courage it took for her to agree to publish her story - even though using a different name, it still had to be terrifying. "Sybil's" courage helped me be brave enough to publish my own book on MPD. I am very saddened by both "Sybil's" and Cornelia Wilbur's deaths. However, the legacy of "Sybil" will continue to help uncountable numbers of people.
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Summary: A definite must read!
Review: "Sybil" provided an extremely fascinating and captivating look into the life of a woman challenged with multiple personalities. The real essence of the novel is that it is an actual, non-fictional account of Sybil Isabel Dorsett's life. The struggles with her parents and the way that she overcomes this obstacle makes reading the novel worthwhile. I loved the way Schreiber wrote, in a manner that was not too simple yet not too complicated, so that an "average joe" like myself could understand the parts of the novel that involved Sybil's psychiatrist. This is an amazing story and is amazingly written. Everyone should read this novel. It is fabulous.
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Summary: Fantastic.
Review: I loved this book, it was just amazing to read and I was just captivated totally. I remember watching the movie with Sally Field when I was quite young and ,thinking of it now, I recall how much it affected me. Not to be offensive in anyway ,but I just found multipule personality disorder fasinating and certain images of that film have stayed with me. I had no idea that there was a book of her life and only found it recently in a bookshop in Belfast while Christmas shopping. I just devoured it when I got home and loved reading it, it really is a book of top quality. May I also say that I agree with the girl from Canada who made the comment about the reader revealing the real name of Sybil. It was just idle, selfish boasting about the fact that they had some vague connections with her. The author went to the trouble of respecting her privacy , you could have done the same.
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Summary: Amazing
Review: I have to admite that I haven't quite finished the book YET! But I highly intend to. At the start of the novel I was rather confused, but after being pushed by a school teacher to continue I decided to give it another try. Now I find it one of the best written and extremly moving books ever! It (at least what I have read) was so horible and sorrow filled that you can't read anymore yet still so intriging and compelling that u CAN'T put it down! So far of what I have read this book is a must have for any of the curious minds that thirst for the knowledge of life and knowing, it feeds your soul with emotion and tears and overwelms your brain with the amazment of such cases of multiple personalities. I recomend this book, Sybil, to everyone!
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Summary: Profoundly distrurbing
Review: I'm a 28 year old female from South Africa. I read this book about 7 years ago. This book was so disturbing at one point that I wasn't going to continue reading it, however, I could not sleep because of nightmares recollecting her experiences so I had to continue along the book to her recovery so that I could see hope for her. The book helps us identify with at least some of what it must feel like to have MPD and takes you on an incredible journey, one that you're likely never to forget. I'm sorry to hear she died, I've always wanted to tell her how brave I thought she was.
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