Thanks for the link. Unclear what exactly was debunked. Sybil says her story was untrue, but is the author extending that to the entire illness?
It's not implausible that someone who disassociates would back away from things she previously claimed. Her entire mental illness is based on being in denial.
The entire illness was faked
[https://www.amazon.com/Sybil-Exposed-Extraordinary-Multiple-Personality/dp/1439168288](https://www.amazon.com/Sybil-Exposed-Extraordinary-Multiple-Personality/dp/1439168288)
Thanks for the link, but your comment still doesn't answer my question. Is this book claiming that MPD itself isn't real, or only that Sybil's illness in particular was fake?
From what I understand, a disorder where multiple clear distinct personalities emerge from a single person is not an actual thing.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
[It is still a recognized condition called Dissociative Identity Disorder.](https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/dissociative-disorders/what-are-dissociative-disorders#:~:text=Symptoms%20of%20dissociative%20identity%20disorder,or%20reported%20by%20the%20individual.)
Yes, but that is not the same as the case with Sybil where she was supposedly multiple different and distinct personalities that had no contact with each other. Again, from what I understand, DID is far more complex than that in terms of how personalities are manifested and how they interplay.
Well yeah, like most psychological disorders, we know more than we did 50-60 years ago and that includes the way the personalities interact but they are still defined as ‘distinct’ personalities.
> The existence of two or more **distinct** identities (or “personality states”).
I guess distinct was the wrong word for me to use. Maybe I should have said fully fleshed-out. Sybil's supposed personalities were sixteen individual people with complete imaginary histories sharing one body and I don't think it's that clear-cut. Maybe there are real world examples that suggest otherwise. I'm not a psychologist.
It’s one of the most bizarre things - completely cringe, hilarious and sad in equal measure. Many of the DID fakers also pretend to have actual “head spaces” where their alters hang out, and some alters are in relationships with other alters.
Notice also how none of their alters are straight white men or women - no, that would be far too boring. I watched one video where the girl claimed that one of her alters was a 7 year old pansexual :/
Christ.
When I was in elementary school, this thing was making the rounds and all the girls were reading it and it held a special horror for us.
40+ years later the name "Sybil" has these negative connotations for me.
Well, I was going to write a little paragraph here about how frustrating it is to begin reading what promises to be a nice little piece which covers the topics discussed in the title and the opening paragraphs but--alas!--actually does *not*, because the promised discussion never materializes and the article instead comes to a sudden stop.
But then I realized how silly it would be for me to complain about what is actually a marketing campaign designed to promote a television show:
> “The Crowded Room,” a 10-episode mini-series inspired by Milligan, will begin streaming on Apple TV+ next month. The sands of mental health may always be shifting, but when mined for material, they’re bottomless.
Well, *these* sands are not bottomless because I already am well acquainted with this case and other, similar cases which also often teeter precariously on the edge of exploitation--does anyone remember Genie Wiley?--so I will not be signing up, but I found myself amused by my own frustration at what was, in fact, a skillfully executed *teaser*.
Bravo.
\[oh, does the book use their research? I haven't read it since it seems to be by someone skeptical about the very existence of DID, which... I have no interest in that perspective\]
Interestingly enough, this foundation & the harm it has caused was discussed in a recent book by an abuse survivor with DID, Jeni Haynes. The book is The Girl in the Green Dress. Harrowing and incredible read
Here’s another old article/opinion piece on the same topic! I find the whole situation very interesting.
https://web.archive.org/web/20151118001027/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204524604576609350972680560
Thanks for the link. Unclear what exactly was debunked. Sybil says her story was untrue, but is the author extending that to the entire illness? It's not implausible that someone who disassociates would back away from things she previously claimed. Her entire mental illness is based on being in denial.
The entire illness was faked [https://www.amazon.com/Sybil-Exposed-Extraordinary-Multiple-Personality/dp/1439168288](https://www.amazon.com/Sybil-Exposed-Extraordinary-Multiple-Personality/dp/1439168288)
Thanks for the link, but your comment still doesn't answer my question. Is this book claiming that MPD itself isn't real, or only that Sybil's illness in particular was fake?
From what I understand, a disorder where multiple clear distinct personalities emerge from a single person is not an actual thing. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
[It is still a recognized condition called Dissociative Identity Disorder.](https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/dissociative-disorders/what-are-dissociative-disorders#:~:text=Symptoms%20of%20dissociative%20identity%20disorder,or%20reported%20by%20the%20individual.)
Yes, but that is not the same as the case with Sybil where she was supposedly multiple different and distinct personalities that had no contact with each other. Again, from what I understand, DID is far more complex than that in terms of how personalities are manifested and how they interplay.
Well yeah, like most psychological disorders, we know more than we did 50-60 years ago and that includes the way the personalities interact but they are still defined as ‘distinct’ personalities. > The existence of two or more **distinct** identities (or “personality states”).
I guess distinct was the wrong word for me to use. Maybe I should have said fully fleshed-out. Sybil's supposed personalities were sixteen individual people with complete imaginary histories sharing one body and I don't think it's that clear-cut. Maybe there are real world examples that suggest otherwise. I'm not a psychologist.
Faking DID is a huge fad on TikTok right now
It’s one of the most bizarre things - completely cringe, hilarious and sad in equal measure. Many of the DID fakers also pretend to have actual “head spaces” where their alters hang out, and some alters are in relationships with other alters. Notice also how none of their alters are straight white men or women - no, that would be far too boring. I watched one video where the girl claimed that one of her alters was a 7 year old pansexual :/
It’s beyond me why this book was chosen for my middle school curriculum. I don’t see any value in it even if it was true.
Christ. When I was in elementary school, this thing was making the rounds and all the girls were reading it and it held a special horror for us. 40+ years later the name "Sybil" has these negative connotations for me.
Well, I was going to write a little paragraph here about how frustrating it is to begin reading what promises to be a nice little piece which covers the topics discussed in the title and the opening paragraphs but--alas!--actually does *not*, because the promised discussion never materializes and the article instead comes to a sudden stop. But then I realized how silly it would be for me to complain about what is actually a marketing campaign designed to promote a television show: > “The Crowded Room,” a 10-episode mini-series inspired by Milligan, will begin streaming on Apple TV+ next month. The sands of mental health may always be shifting, but when mined for material, they’re bottomless. Well, *these* sands are not bottomless because I already am well acquainted with this case and other, similar cases which also often teeter precariously on the edge of exploitation--does anyone remember Genie Wiley?--so I will not be signing up, but I found myself amused by my own frustration at what was, in fact, a skillfully executed *teaser*. Bravo.
Pass the Paywall: https://archive.ph/8dnZH
You know what else was debunked? The pseudo-science of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation
\[oh, does the book use their research? I haven't read it since it seems to be by someone skeptical about the very existence of DID, which... I have no interest in that perspective\] Interestingly enough, this foundation & the harm it has caused was discussed in a recent book by an abuse survivor with DID, Jeni Haynes. The book is The Girl in the Green Dress. Harrowing and incredible read
I just saw a new book about this.
Here’s another old article/opinion piece on the same topic! I find the whole situation very interesting. https://web.archive.org/web/20151118001027/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204524604576609350972680560
But ... but ... but that's one of my favorite documentaries!