Symptoms of DID
It was obvious that Sybil suffered from Dissociative Identity Disorder [DID] as she clearly displayed all the symptoms as stated in the DSM-IV-TR.
According to DSM-IV-TR, the following symptoms must be present to be diagnosed as suffering from DID:
A. The presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self).
B. At least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control of the person’s behaviour.
C. Inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.
D. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., blackouts or chaotic behaviour during alcohol intoxication) or a general medical condition (e.g., complex partial seizures). Note: In children, the symptoms are not attributable to imaginary playmates or other fantasy play.
At the end of the movie, it was shown that Sybil had a total of 13 personality states and each of them is distinct from one another.
Throughout the movie, it was also displayed that the two personality states that often took over were Peggy and Vicki.
The movie also did show that, Sybil had episodes where she was unable to recall how she ended up in certain situations or how paintings that she don’t remember painting ended up in her room.
It was also shown that Sybil was not a drug abuser or was under any substance influence;
instead they show that Sybil was able to function like any other people and also had a job.
Thus, for symptoms wise, the movie was accurate
in displaying them as it met all the requirements in the DSM-IV-TR.
Now moving on to the treatment that was used by the psychiatrist, Dr. Wilbur to treat Sybil,
the movie showed that the main treatment used was hypnosis.
The main goal of doing so was to try and uncover Sybil's repressed memories of her abusive childhood
and to help her gain control of that event.
Although there is still no strong evidence that proves hypnosis is a necessary part for treating DID, it is however an effective way to gain access to these traumatic memories which will help in identifying the triggers/cues as well as helping the patient to regain control of it and see it as only a past memory which can no longer hurt them.
In the movie, we could see Dr. Wilbur help Sybil through hypnosis by helping her recall and visualize her surroundings and events that happened to her; especially when nearing the end of the movie, we could see Sybil's true childhood days as Dr. Wilbur helped her all the way to relive that particular traumatic experience and finally she was able to accept it as a memory that can no longer hurt her and finally the integration of all her personalities occurred.
The movie also showed subtle consequences when Dr. Wilbur was not careful when treating Sybil by being to harsh on her; Sybil reverted to her infant personality and Dr.Wilbur was at lost on how to revert her back to Sybil. This in a way shows that the person treating patients with DID should be always careful with their actions and be knowledgeable of what to do when their patients switch to another alter.
So for treatment wise, the movie was quite accurate in displaying how hypnotism in particular was used in treating Sybil as it brings out a lot of her repressed memories and different alters into awareness.
Conclusion
I personally would not watch this movie again as it gets quite nerve-wrecking for me – especially when the whole truth about Sybil’s childhood experiences starts being revealed. But it is a good movie to watch if anyone is interested in getting a rough idea of what DID is all about and how to go about treating it.
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