Dayao, Luis Albert A. PSY224 SYBIL: FILM REVIEW 1) Examine the therapeutic relationship between Sybil and her psychiatrist, Dr. Wilbur. Approach the treatment of DID, and what therapeutic techniques were employed? - The therapeutic relationship between Sybil and Dr. Wilbur had a slow start as Sybil and some of her alternative personalities struggled to trust their psychiatrist as their prior experiences towards psychiatrists didn’t develop into anything significant and only reached conclusions of the prior psychiatrists that Sybil as a hysterical person and but not someone that is suffering from an mental disorder. Dr. Wilbur, as well, had trouble trusting the validity and reliability of Sybil’s dissociative symptoms – even leading to an assumption that Sybil might be acting. Eventually, their relationship improved as Sybil and her alternative personalities slowly opened up about their past hardships and Dr. Wilbur disseminates during the process that Sybil’s symptoms are genuine. - For the most parts, as a Freudian psychiatrist, Dr. Wilbur utilized the free association therapy method wherein she let her patient/s to fully express and release whatever thoughts that comes to their mind. Dr. Wilbur also used exposure therapy as a part of cognitive-behavioral therapy wherein she let Sybil and her other personas to face their/her traumatic experiences during when Sybil is still a child. In the later part of the film, Dr. Wilbur opted into using hypnotherapy in an attempt to reconcile Sybil and her personalities by hypnosis with Sybil’s consent. 2) Critique the accuracy of the movie’s portrayal of DID in terms of diagnosis, symptoms, and treatment approaches. What elements of the movie were realistic, and which ones were dramatized for cinematic effect? - The movie’s portrayal of DID in terms of diagnosis, symptoms, and treatment approaches are in majority, accurate. The long duration of diagnosis was captured (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Symptoms such as anxiety, delusions, disorientations, suicidal attempts and memory loss are present (Cleveland Clinic, 2012). Treatment approaches such as CBT and hypnotherapy was utilized by Dr. Wilbur as interventions (WebMD, 2023). Other elements such as how Sybil’s daily life and interactions was also tackled and Dr. Wilbur’s stress and obstacles she has to face as someone that has discovered a newfound disorder and one of the few existing female psychiatrists are good implementations on how mental disorders are perceived and how psychotherapy was dominated by men back in the days. - The sudden change of voice modulations of Sybil’s actress, Tammy Blanchard, are something that I’ll categorize as a dramatized aspect for narrative purposes to distinguish Sybil’s other personalities. Also, the reconciling moment of all of the personalities happened in a short, rapid event which is unrealistic as according to Tartakovsky (2011), it should take a long time for the patient with DID to assimilate his/her personalities. 3) Discuss the stigma surrounding mental health conditions like DID as depicted in the movie. How did Sybil’s DID affect her relationships and interactions with others? - The media’s portrayal of mental health conditions are often stereotypical. They generalized characters with mental disorders as either deranged, dangerous and/or feeble-minded personalities (Portrayals of Mental Illness, 2023). But heavily-focused mental health films such as Sybil have always done a great job at being accurate and precise at delivering the negative and positive side of mental health disorders. - In the film, Sybil’s DID hindered her relationships in majority, in a negative way. This is displayed in the second half of the film where she developed a relationship with Ramon. Vanessa, Marcia, Sid, (three of Sybil’s personality) and Sybil herself interacted with Ramon. But, eventually, a trauma response occurred with Ruthie which puts Ramon and the people around them into confusion. 4) Explore the ethical considerations involved in using real-life cases like Sybil’s as a basis for movies and popular culture. How might such portrayals impact public perceptions of mental health disorders? - In today’s media, movies and the pop culture are gaining more ethical considerations towards mental health disorders. Directors and scriptwriters started to communicate with mental health professionals in order to address the stigma surrounding mental illness and its portrayal in the media. Although, it is still a fact that the portrayals of real-life cases of mental health disorders are inaccurate and imprecise (Srivastava et al., 2018). - Media, especially today, has been very instrumental when it comes to influencing people to understand issues and events. These kind of portrayals can easily sway and alter people’s perception towards something. If the inaccurate and imprecise portrayals of mental health issues continues, it will only reinforce and fortify people’s superstitions about the topic (Srivastava et al., 2018). 5) Compare and contrast the portrayal of DID in “Sybil” with other depictions of mental illness in films or television. What common themes or stereotypes are present in media representations of psychological disorders? - As mentioned, portrayals of mental health conditions usually presents themes and stereotypes that those who suffer from psychiatric conditions are deranged, dangerous and feeble-minded human beings which are used as means to add humor and/or drama typically. Although, films like “Sybil” wherein its main focus is to raise awareness towards mental disorders presented stereotypes of the true struggles of the people involved (the psychiatrist, the patient, the family involved, etc.) and the newfound resolution or reconciliation of the patient at the end of the series. 6) Discuss the historical context of the film. How has our understanding of DID and the treatment of mental health disorders evolved since the time the movie was released (1976)? - The film depicted that at the point when the context of the story occurred in reallife setting, mental health disorder treatments are clearly under development as there is no existence of drug prescriptions or technological-based treatments that appeared on the film unlike today, mental health disorders are intervened with drugs and technology involved. - Specifically, one of the emphasis of the story is the first diagnostic of DID or known as Multiple Personality Disorder at that period is that of Sybil’s case. 7) Reflect on the potential benefits and drawbacks of using movies like “Sybil” as teaching tools in abnormal psychology classes. How can media representations be used to enhance learning, and what limitations should be considered? - Potential benefits: Raise further awareness towards mental health disorders or a specific mental health disorder; Implications of mental health disorder/s diagnosis, symptoms and treatments in real-life settings in media format; Movies like “Sybil” can show the status of how was mental health disorders perceived in a certain period of time which also highlights the history and background of it. - Drawbacks & Limitations: Might cause excessive self-diagnosis among the viewers; Shortened procedures of diagnosis and treatment to satisfy a film’s duration might affect the viewer’s perception towards the real-life duration of the diagnosis and treatment procedures; The dramatized aspects of the mental disorders for cinematic purposes might lead to viewers’ misbeliefs. 8) Describe the main character, Sybil Dorsett, and her symptoms. How did the movie portray her experiences of DID? - Sybil Dorsett is a young, female art student that suffers from blackouts and which is later revealed to be symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder. During the film, with the assistance of her psychiatrist, Dr. Wilbur, she revealed to have 16 different personalities with all varying in age and distinct characteristics. - The movie portrayed her experiences by showcasing her frequent blackouts at first. Then, eventually her other personalities emerged as a result of Dr. Wilbur’s interventions on helping Sybil to recall her harsh childhood. How DID affected her social and academic life was also displayed. 9) What were some of the traumatic events from Sybil’s childhood that contributed to the development of her DID? Discuss the role of trauma in the development of dissociative disorders. - Sybil’s contributors to her DID’s development are mainly her mother’s abuse towards her during her childhood. Sybil was verbally abused, raped with a button hook, douched with an ice pack which will be placed in her anus and tided up on one of a piano’s leg. Sybil also physically experienced seeing a fetus being aborted and her parent’s sexual activities. - Dissociation is said to occur as a response to a traumatic events as well as prolonged exposure to trauma. Scientifically, dissociations occurs as a coping mechanism against overwhelming distress. If not addressed, these dissociations leads into dissociative disorders (Farrely-Rosch, 2018). 10) Discuss the various personalities (alters) that Sybil developed. What were their characteristics, and how did they serve as coping mechanisms for Sybil? - - - Peggy: An 8-year old girl who is the manifestation of Sybil’s rage and anger from her childhood. Often has an angry expression and expresses her anger through tantrums and breaking glass Vicky: An 18-year old girl that represents as the equilibrium and matured version of Sybil’s other personalities. She is conscious when other personalities takes over and speaks in a French accent. Vanessa: A flirtatious and outgoing 12-year old girl. She is also a pianist. Marcia: A young girl obsessed with death-related thoughts. She is also a painter. Ruthie: An infant. She is the manifestation of Sybil’s extreme fear. Nancy: A young girl that’s extremely religious. Mary: She is Sybil’s manifestation of her grandmother, who she loves and endear. Sid: A 15-year old boy that does carpentry and spurts. He is the manifestation of Sybil’s father. Mike: A boy, older than Sid, that also does carpentry. REFERENCES American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Dissociative disorders. In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). Cleveland Clinic. (2012). Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder). Retrieved from http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/dissociative_disorders/hic_ dissociative_identity_d isorder_multiple_personality_disorder.aspx. Farrely-Rosch, A. (2018). Dissociation and trauma in young people. Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health. Retrieved from: https://www.orygen. org.au/Training/Resources/Trauma/Fact-sheets/Dissociation-trauma/Orygen_ Dissociation_and_trauma_in_young_people_fac?ext=.#:~:text=Prolonged%20expos ure%20to%20trauma%20may,emotions%20and%20stress%202%2C%209. Srivastava, K., Chaudhury, S., Bhat, P.S. & Mujawar, S. (2018). Media and mental health. Ind Psychiatry J. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from: https://www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6198586/. Tartakovsky, M. (2011). Dispelling Myths about Dissociative Identity Disorder. Psych Central. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/lib/dispelling-myths-about-dissociativeidentitydisorder/0009785/2. WebMD. (2023). Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder). Retrieved from: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiplepersonality-disorder. Anonymous. (2023). Portrayals of Mental Illness in Film and the Impact on Viewers, Individuals with Mental Illness, and Mental Health Treatment. University of Roschester. Retrieved from: https://amattleresearch.digitalscholar.rochester.edu/ portrayals-of-mental-illness-in-film-and-the-impact-on-viewers-individuals-withmental-illness-and-mental-health-treatment/.
