For many psychology enthusiasts, “Sybil” is a well-known case for Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). But for many who may have not even heard of the movie, it was really interesting. The real-life “Sybil”, Shirley Mason, had a disturbing childhood and was emotionally unstable. Debbie Nathan, the writer of Sybil Exposed wrote that Mason had big dreams of being an art teacher. When Mason went to college in the 1940’s, she was having psychological problems. Her issues from the past finally caught up with her, which was when she met Dr. Cornelia Wilbur. Dr. Wilbur had this interest in MPD (now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder [DID]) and according to Nathan, she recommended Mason to read up on that subject providing her with many books on it, which Nathan felt was a terrible mistake since Mason had such wild imaginations. After a few years, Nathan said that Mason wasn’t getting the necessary attention she wanted and needed from her psychiatrist. So she walked into her office claiming that she wasn’t Shirley today but a child named “Peggy”, a nine-year-old girl. Dr. Wilbur seemed to be pleased with the fact that she finally had a patient with DID and even said that she would treat her for free. Providing her with medications and barbiturates. One of the drugs she administered was Thorazine, a drug that can have extreme side effects, including hallucinations. Dr. Wilbur even administered intravenous barbiturates, which can cause her all kinds of tansies making the patient feel as if it’s real. After a while, different “alters” started emerging from Mason in contribution from the book and the drugs administered. One day she would be a boy, a baby, a teenage girl, and 16 different identities. However, after a while, Mason admitte...
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...ccording to philosopher, Ian Hacking, he says that “…monomania made people up—shaped and stirred and suggested them into a configuration which… was contained by, then amplified, the diagnosis.” He also emphasizes that mental patients prefer to be in an asylum where they at least feel wanted and render them better unlike being in real life in which it feels like life shuns them and they feel like they’re back to needing help (Appignanesi 71).
Although professors agree on the existence of DID as a genuine disorder as it is proven by the DSM-V, it is still difficult to differentiate the disorders where similar symptoms exist. It is rare circumstance in this century for a professor to question its existence because of the movies and case studies that has been coming about since the 17th century, but it is the etiology and the diagnostic criteria that are questionable.
For many, the statement “psychiatric asylum” conjures up disturbing images such as painful procedures and restrained patients, the creepy facility in the movie Shutter Island, the cruel Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. But that image may be outdated.
Torgersen, S. (2009). The nature (and nurture) of personality disorders. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 50(6), 624-632. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00788.x
Mental illness has been around as long as people have been. However, the movement really started in the 19th century during industrialization. The Western countries saw an immense increase in the number and size of insane asylums, during what was known as “the great confinement” or the “asylum era” (Torrey, Stieber, Ezekiel, Wolfe, Sharfstein, Noble, Flynn Criminalizing the Seriously Mentally Ill). Laws were starting to be made to pressure authorities to face the people who were deemed insane by family members and hospital administrators. Because of the overpopulation in the institutions, treatment became more impersonal and had a complex mix of mental and social-economic problems. During this time the term “psychiatry” was identified as the medical specialty for the people who had the job as asylum superintendents. These superintendents assumed managerial roles in asylums for people who were considered “alienated” from society; people with less serious conditions wer...
Personality disorders have always been viewed as a possible category for a psychological disorder. However, in the new edition of the DSM, it will be getting its own diagnostic category. In viewing personality disorder, one can only agree that it should have its own diagnostic category. The reason that these changes are being supported is because of the causation, diagnosis, and treatment of personality disorders.
What comes to mind when you hear the words “insane asylum”? Do such terms as lunatic, crazy, scary, or even haunted come to mind? More than likely these are the terminology that most of us would use to describe our perception of insane asylums. However, those in history that had a heart’s desire to treat the mentally ill compassionately and humanely had a different viewpoint. Insane asylums were known for their horrendous treatment of the mentally ill, but the ultimate purpose in the reformation of insane asylums in the nineteenth century was to improve the treatment for the mentally ill by providing a humane and caring environment for them to reside.
The memoir The Buddha and the Borderline tells the story of Kiera Van Gelder’s courageous journey receiving treatment for borderline personality disorder (BPD). BPD is a personality disorder defined by the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) as “a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, affects, and marked impulsivity” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). BPD is a personality disorder and thus cannot be diagnosed until after the age of 18 when using the DSM-IV-TR’s diagnostic criteria. This does not imply, however, that BPD is an illness that restricts itself to adulthood; although the age of onset varies from individual to individual, BPD-like symptoms or features are usually evident in adolescence and sometimes even observed in childhood. In her memoir, Gelder states that she was diagnosed with BPD at 30 years of age but she later goes on to describe the symptoms of mental illness she experienced her entire life, including symptoms of depression and anxiety, mood swings, self-injurious behavior, suicide attempts, extreme self-image issues, binge eating and purging, and drug abuse (Gelder, 2010).
Culture has a huge influence on how people view and deal with psychological disorders. Being able to successfully treat someone for a mental illness has largely to do with what they view as normal in their own culture. In Western cultures we think that going to a counselor to talk about our emotions or our individual problems and/or getting some type of drug to help with our mental illness is the best way to overcome and treat it, but in other cultures that may not be the case. In particular Western and Asian cultures vary in the way they deal with psychological disorders. In this paper I am going to discuss how Asian cultures and Western cultures are similar and different in the way they view psychological disorders, the treatments and likelihood of getting treatment, culture bound disorders, and how to overcome the differences in the cultures for optimal treatments.
In a country based around free will, the United States contains a vast variety of personalities and behaviors. Plenty of people, probably more than we know, exert abnormal behavior. Abnormal behavior is patterns of emotion, thought, and action that are considered pathological. Historically, people blame witchcraft for this eccentric type of behavior and tended to perform exorcisms in hopes of abolishing such actions. Anxiety disorders and personality disorders, two forms of abnormal behavior, can alter a person’s personality as a result of life experiences.
In the book Sybil, written by Flora Rheta Schreiber discuss the life story of Sybil Isabel Dorsett, who has developed 16 distinct personalities because of her childhood abuse. Sybil story became one of the most severe cases ever recorded with multiple personalities. Which is currently called Dissociative Identity Disorder in the current DSM-V. “Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is a severe condition in which two or more distinct identities, or personality states, are present in—and alternately take control of—an individual. The person also experiences memory loss that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness” (Psychology Today, 2008, para 1). Sybil’s distinct sense of selves helped protect her from the trauma she experienced as a child. These selves was Ruthie Dorsett a toddler who never ages. Vanessa Gail Dorsett and Marcia Lynn Dorsett emerged at different times, but developed a close personal relationship with one another and utilize Sybil's body simultaneously. Mike Dorsett and Sid Dorsett are two male selves. Peggy Lou Baldwin an angry girl, who breaks windows when she angry. Peggy Ann Baldwin, often shy, fearful than angry. Mary Lucinda Saunders Dorsett, a maternal and thoughtful girl, Nancy Lou Ann Baldwin, who was interested in politics. Victoria Antoinette Scharleau, nickname Vicky, who had the traced Sybil’s sense of self. Clara Dorsett, who was very religious. Sybil Ann Dorsett, who was timid and nervous, Helen Dorsett, who was very afraid, but determined. Marjorie Dorsett, who was quick to laugh. The Blonde who was a nameless blond teenager, and last Sybil herself (Schreiber, 1995).
- Comer, Ronald J. Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology. New York, NY: Worth Publ., 2011. Print.
My topic of choice for this research paper is Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID. This appellation is rather new; therefore, most are more familiar with the disorder's older, less technical name: Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD. When first presented with the task of selecting a topic on which to center this paper, I immediately dismissed Dissociative Identity Disorder (which for the sake of brevity will be referred to as DID for the remainder of this paper) as a viable topic due to the sheer scope of the disorder. However after an exhaustive examination of other prospective topics, I found myself back at my original choice. There are several reasons why I chose DID. The foremost of which is the widespread fascination of this disorder by many different types of people; most of whom otherwise have no interest in psychology or its associated fields. One would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t been captivated at one time or another by the extraordinary, all too well known symptoms of this disorder. This fascination… dare I say ‘allure’ to this disorder is exemplified by the myriad of motion pictures that have been produced based on cases, real or fictitious, of DID. Another reason for my choice is what I feel is the insufficiency of effective treatments for DID. Despite what is known about this disorder, (which is relatively a lot) there are only two chief treatments for DID; the first and most prevalent is psychotherapy; also known as ”talk therapy”, the second is medication. The third and final reason for my choice is my own enchantment with DID. I must admit that ever since I read about Sue Tinker, a woman who was diagnosed with over 200 different personalities. In writing this paper I hope to discover more about this disorder and perhaps be able to identify a few areas that I feel might require more research on the part of psychologists specializing in DID.
There is shown to be a significant relationship in terms of intrapersonal development with childhood sexual abuse and the development of BPD. In a study of eleven patients, six of them reported sexual abuse in childhood (Brassington & Krawitz, 2006). This shows how strong of a relationship an early encounter like this can have with leading into the symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder. More than half of the individuals reported this type of history, and it is not surprising that being exposed to a challenging situation like this at such a young age can emotionally impact and stunt childhood growth and development. While causal factors of BPD are not yet conclusive, events like sexual abuse certainly contribute to the development (Lieb,
According to Barlow, Durand & Stewart (2012), Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is one of several dissociative disorders in which a person experiences involve detachment or depersonalization. They go on to explain that people with DID ha...
Personality disorders are enduring, pervasive, and inflexible patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that deviate markedly from the expectations of culture. (1) They are characterized by long lasting rigid patterns of thoughts and behaviors. Personality disorders can cause serious, problematic and impaired functioning. Professionals and researchers consider personality disorders to be an enduring pattern of inner experiences. To be diagnosed with a personality disorder, you must be experiencing severe distress that affects your social, personal and occupational life and also experience increased stress. Typically these are diagnosed at a young adult age, sometime in one’s twenties or thirties. Unfortunately personality disorders are a part of the integral part of people which results in a difficulty to treat or cure. (2)
Dissociative Identity Disorder or “DID”, a condition wherein a person's identity is fragmented into two or more distinct personalities. DID is a form of dissociation, which is a mental process. Dissociation according to Webster is, “the separation of something from something else or the state of being disconnected.” So dissociation begins from the person’s thoughts, their memories, actions, sense of identity, and their feelings. Most people subjected to this disorder where victims of severe abuse or trauma. In this moment of abuse or trauma, dissociation kicks in as a coping mechanism to protect them. In this the person creates a new person to help cope the pain.