In the movie Sybil, Sally Field portrays a woman who survived severe sexual abuse as a child by her paranoid schizophrenic mother, Hattie Dorsett. This is an unbelievable true story about a young woman who suffered from Multiple Personalities (Dissociative Identity Disorder). Sybil developed sixteen different personalities as a result of being a victim of childhood abuse. Despite the trauma Sybil had went through she was a shy and caring substitute teacher. She decided to reach out for help when she realized one of her blackouts occurred in front of her students. The sounds of the squeaking of the swings at the playground caused her to have a flashback, and in a dissociative state she was found standing in the water with no memory of what she was doing. She contacted a psychiatrist Dr. Wilbur, and was given a neurological examination. She was at first treated for social anxiety, and memory loss before her treatment continued.
The field of psychology in this movie is clinical, due to severity of the womans diagnosis. Sybil had many symptoms of psychological and mental disorders. “Clinical Psychologists are not the only people who work in the field of mental health. Psychiatrists also work in this field, they are medical doctors who treat mental disorders, often by doing psychotherapy,”(Coon-Mitterer, 39). For example, when Sybil experienced one of her blackouts she cut her hand while breaking a glass window. She went to a hospital to treat her injury, and as she was patched up by a surgeon she was confused so he called in Dr. Wilbur to look at Sybil. During the neurological examination, Sybil was covering her eye and speaking as if she were a little girl. Sybil wasn't aware of it at that moment until Dr. Wilbur made her aware. ...
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...eech patterns, emotion, and appearances. Marcia was controlled by the ID, because she had so much hatred towards her mother, and wanted her dead. This triggered her into becoming suicidal, and she felt the only way out of everything was to kill herself. Peggy Lou was also part of the ID.Vicky was the SuperEgo, she is the one who is conscious of all the personalities, and keeps them on point. She also is there to keep Sybil safe. The Ego is Sybil as herself. She is the conscious self that is aware of rational behavior and tries to keep the ID controlled. Dr. Wilbur used hypnosis on Sybil at a park, and reunited her with each identity. After eleven years of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, Sybil was finally able to reach the catharsis moment in which she was able to release her emotions, and personalities to become as one person, “Sybil”.
Works Cited
Coon-Mitterer
Susie’s mother opened the door to let Molly, Susie’s babysitter, inside. Ten-month old Susie seemed happy to see Molly. Susie then observed her mother put her jacket on and Susie’s face turned from smiling to sad as she realized that her mother was going out. Molly had sat for Susie many times in the past month, and Susie had never reacted like this before. When Susie’s mother returned home, the sitter told her that Susie had cried until she knew that her mother had left and then they had a nice time playing with toys until she heard her mother’s key in the door. Then Susie began crying once again.
He displayed all the symptoms his mother did. The only difference was his killing spree that he had. The onset of this affection towards killing and decapitating came from the night when his mom told him to cut her throat so that she would not be taken by the mental institution. From this point forward, Jerry felt a thrill or fulfillment feeling when he killed the other women. Throughout the film, the audience could be confused between the different psychotic illnesses. The main illness that arose was schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is described as a person who has a split mind that may have delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, and/or negative symptoms (Kearney & Trull, 2012). Furthermore, his symptoms were persistent. Without medication or help, he lived his life in delusions and hallucinations. Unfortunately, Jerry did not have much help throughout his life. His psychiatrist did not set any goals or futures for him and also only told him to take his
In this paper the reader will be able to find a variety of different areas covered. A detailed summary of the movie 28 days directed by Betty Thomas in 2000 will start the paper. The diagnostic criteria of a psychiatric disease will be included along with rationales why the main character fits the diagnosis of disease. Included is the effectiveness or non-effectiveness of coping mechanisms. Pharmacological with classification and non-pharmacological treatments will be included in addition to discussion of ethical and legal issues. This paper will include whether it would be an acceptable fit for patients or families with the same diagnosis. Lastly, will be an overall conclusion of the information provided in the paper.
Most doctors at the time treated hysteria as a physical illness, except Breuer and Freud. Freud and Breuer had a patient named “Anna O.” who they used hypnosis to treat. They published their findings in Studies in Hysteria, which talked about hypnosis to treat hysteria. In the case of Anna O., her symptoms were relieved after her hypnosis sessions. After disclosing information about her father’s death during hypnosis, Anna O. was able to feel her arm again and speak, which she wasn’t able to do previously. Freud’s work using hypnosis helped him understand the power of unconscious influences on behavior (Burger
... personalities. Whilst no causes are confirmed, it is believed that a traumatic event of some description can lead to DID in adulthood. Using the mental status exam, psychologists can begin to treat a patient using either psychotherapy or hypnosis methods or even both, whilst other alternative methods can also be used if need be. The symptoms of DID can be severe but the eventual outcomes can even more so be life threatening. Today, DID is recognised as a mental illness and it is easier now to receive help than it was in the 19th century. The movie Sybil shows how the illness can be treated in a modern day context and gives viewers a valuable insight to the disorder in full. Whilst the illness can be debilitating and devastating in life for some people, it is comforting to know that some psychologists’ think that DID is on the decline[1].
In all the psychology of the personality is difficult to understand, because trying to read what someone is thinking about you and your personality is a tough process. This was roughly and explanation into the view of Freud’s view of the id, ego, and superego and some of the psychoanalysis stages that come in the crazy world and studies of Sigmund Freud. Even though his views are not popular today some people still research them and think to themselves he might not be as weird as people told me he was.
In the story of dragon, the story represents a conflict between the id, the ego, and the superego. This is because the story talks about the early age of his life when he had his heartbroken and this resulted in him changing his entire life plans, and aspires to become a psychiatrist. The struggles between the three functional features are present, although they are not resolved. As the psychiatrist attends the party, he sees Pamela and he attacks her without thinking it through. This is because with his past experiences of his own wife leaving him, he let his id take over him causing him to act irrationally, in other words not ego. Therefore, the conflict is not resolved due to his actions at the
Department of Psychology, of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (n.d.). Sybil isabel dorsett* the most famous case of multiple personality. Retrieved from http://jackiewhiting.net/Psychology/Sybil/Sybil.htm
Freudian theory of Melancholia can be seen as an underlying theme. In 1917, Sigmund Freud wrote a paper that compared the phenomenon of mourning the loss of a loved one to the phenomenon of melancholia; the paper was titled “Mourning and Melancholia.” Freud characterizes melancholia as a “failed” mourning because of its tendency to replace the object of cathexis or the love of the lost object. The melancholia phenomenon is proving apparent once Madeline dies, Scottie begins the image of her in every woman; he is seeking a replacement for his lost love. According to Sigmund Freud, the conscious level of the human mind can be thought of as the tip of an iceberg, the rest mostly hidden in the unconscious. Freud believed that the unconscious mind consisted of personality aspects that the conscious mind was unaware of. A major aspect of psychoanalysis is one’s defense mechanisms. It is thought that defense mechanisms are used by the ego to protect a person from anxiety and unpleasant stimuli. Repression, the first defense mechanism that Freud discovered, is demonstrated in the film once Scottie begins unconsciously seeking a replacement for Madeline, by wandering the streets looking for Madeline. Instead of dealing with the loss, he represses Madeline’s death. Withdrawal, the tendency to escape or avoid something, is another psychoanalytic defense mechanism. This was demonstrated in the film by Scottie in response to Madeleine's supposed death. He has a 6-month emotional break, in which he is admitted to a psychiatric hospital. He disengages by withdrawing from the world for a period of
Sybil was a very important, and one of the most popular, accounts of Dissociative Identity. The book went into great detail about the suffering Sybil went through, and the lengths that her therapist took to try to validate the claim and treat her personalities, through verification with family members to visiting her childhood doctor. (Putnam). This account not only gave therapists a basis to compare their dissociative patients against, but also reopened the public’s eyes to this disorder. (Putnam 35). It was classified in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980, only six years after the books release. (Kihlstrom). Now there is some concern over the validity of this account, which only fuels the controversy more. There are still other studies of Dissociative Identity Disorder, such as The Five of Me (1977), The Three Faces of Eve (1957) and many other true case studies. The Three Faces of Eve was also a book turned into a movie that, so far, has been proven as a valid case. This case study was not as detailed as the case study on Sybil, but still is a true study of this disorder. (“Multiple Personality”)
Girl Interrupted is a film about a young woman, Susanna Kaysen, who voluntarily enters a psychiatric facility in Massachusetts. The purpose of this paper is to analyze a portrayal of psychiatric care in the 1960’s. The film is based on the memoirs of Susanna Kaysen and her experiences during an 18 month stay at a mental institution. During her visit, Susanna is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The film depicts psychiatric care, diagnoses, and treatments from a different era.
Psychoanalysis had its beginning with the discovery that a person in complete physical health could experience an illness with physical symptoms that stemmed from things trapped in the subconscious known as hysteria. Charcot, a French neurologist tried to liberate the mind through hypnosis. A Viennese physician, Josef Breuer, carried this purging further with a process based on his patient, Anna O., revealing her thoughts and feelings to him. Sigmund Freud took Breuer’s method and made generalizations that grew into conceptualizations and eventually into the theories of psychoanalysis. Freud would listen to his patients, and then use these thoughts to interpret what was happening in the unconscious part of their mind. This was explained as bringing the unconscious to consciousness so it could be dealt with through therapy. Breuer and Freud’s successes with this method led to the foundational publication of Studies in Hysteria in 1895. Freud continued his practice of theory until it became the system of psychology known as psychoanalysis, a system that is the single most influential theory of psychotherapy in our time. A brief look into psychoanalysis is seen through the foundations of Freud’s theory.
... individual as a singular and structured psychology. However, Anaїs Nin's novel, A Spy In The House Of Love, and the works of psychologist, Sigmund Freud explore otherwise. Through the character of Sabina, Nin shows the many different partitions of one's mind, the conflicts between them, and the chaos and guilt resulting from this conflict. Freud's works further describe this multi-layered personality. Sabina's psychology can be unraveled and explained by applying Freud's ideas of the mind being divided into three agencies; the Id, the Ego, and the Superego, which are in constant conflict with each other. Personality is seen as an attempt to resolve this conflict. The ideas in this novel and Freud's theories can help one understand the reasons for their emotions or behavior, allowing one to accept the deficiencies and chaos associated with their personality.
The id is the main energy source for the psyche. The id " '...knows no values, no good and evil, no morality' " (HCAL 130); it functions on instinctual motives. Dee (Wangero) possesses a straightforward, rather blunt, disposition about life. Life is hers for the taking and she dares anything to stand in her way. She takes on the attitude that the world was created to satisfy her. Since the world gave her books to read, she expected the world to listen to her read; because the world giving her clothing options to choose from, she expected the world to respect her choices; in changing her name, she expected the world to honor this change. Her id was overdeveloped because she acted on instinctual sources rather than moral for her decisions. The overdeveloped id frequently appears when the self-centered, self-serving side of her become more prominent than her outward orientated, selfless side.
Important concepts in psychoanalysis are the id, superego, and ego. The id is an entirely unconscious and instinctual layer of an individual and operates on what is known as the “pleasure principle”, meaning it is constantly seeking immediate satisfaction. The ego is the component of the self that deals with reality and operates on the reality principle, which tries to satisfy the id’s needs in a much more socially and morally acceptable way. The superego is the last part to develop and this is what individuals learn from their surroundings, like society and the people ...