Thoughts on Sybil

One word. Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating. I knew the background of the story, but nevertheless, I was still looking forward to how Sybil would be portrayed by Sally Fields. Admittedly, this was also what kept my attention alerted, otherwise the three hour movie may have been a little too long and too draining. The introduction flashback scenes itself were enough to creep me out, reminding me of something out of a horror and torture movie. The most prevalent aspect of the film was the multiple personalities within Sybil, denoted recently as Dissociative Identity Disorders, or DID. It resembles fragmentations of identities and selves, with differing memories, thoughts, and emotions, all within a single person.

The sudden switches of the many 'hers' in various settings and stimulus were intriguing and eye-catching. For example, when Sybil, the present her, was cautious, or even fearful, of accepting Richard's invitation for a ride, 'Vicky' emerged to gracefully accept the offer. Vicky seems to be Victorian era lady, who is sociable and likeable, prefers things to be prim and proper, and enjoys speaking French. The transition from the subdued Sybil to Vicky was vastly different, as it was two different person with personalities that vary extremely on its spectrum. That being said, the portrayal of Sybil's personalities were likely to be dramatized, being a Hollywood movie. In reality, the various 'selves' of a DID person are largely not obvious. It is typically subtle, to the point where most people around the particular individual are unaware of its existence, much less able analyze it, be it their family, friends, or professionals. It is also one of the reasons why it is diffcult for mental health practitioners to accurately identity someone with DID.

That being said, DID is arguably one of the most controversial diagnosis in the mental health profession. Childhood trauma is said to be one of the primary causes of DID. The distress and suffering was too much for a child to bear, so those memories are repressed and kept away from the self, resulting in other selves emerging to deal with the pain. These selves have specifics roles and mentality, in order to cope with the varying types of anguish. In the case of Sybil, when her musical abilities was denied by her mother, 'Vanessa' was born within her, who was filled with all of her piano skills and proficiency. But within Sybil itself, those abilities were 'lost'. These repressed memories are kept hidden and deep with the recesses of her mind. However, therein lies the issue. Professionals argued that, how can we know that these "repressed memories" are authentic? There has been large concerns about false memories and its credibility. These 'memories' may been planted by the psychologist evaluating the client, either intentionally or unknowingly. It is also one of the main reasons why hypnosis is discouraged. Suggestibility is strong when a client is a hypnotic-induced state of consciousness. As such, instead of probing for memories with the consciousness, a psychologist may end up impressing thoughts into the client, perhaps due to the leading questions of the psychologist. 

To this day, DID remains controversial. Not merely because it is difficult to identity, but also because of its comorbidity with other disorders, such as depression, borderline personality disorder, eating disorders and so forth. In my case, my perception of DID is largely influenced by the various movies that I have seen, or hearsays and rumors from others. Since I had no idea of how it is originally, perhaps these views created the basis of my DID schema. Although Sybil presents an enlightening view of how DID may be, and there is definitely some degree of truth in it, it would be wise to watch the movie with a pinch of salt, and not jump to conclusions and judge others too quickly.