Sybil Essay

Words: 1327
Pages: 6

SYBIL

1. What is your diagnosis? Cite behaviors for support.

Sybil Dorsett's case is one of the most celebrated in the field of Psychology. In the first part of the film, we can see that Sybil is like just any normal human being — has a job and interacts with people just like everyone else. Then the scene wherein a screeching sound is made by the playground swing come in and we are now presented with what seems to be a flashback of someone being hoisted up by an old woman. It's just normal to have flashbacks yes, but what made me think that this girl, Sybil, really has a problem was when, as she was leading the kids that she teach back to the bus, all of a sudden, she found herself in the water. And the odd thing here is that she did
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Her mother also used to push up items up into her daughter's vagina. All these things experienced by Sybil contributed to the development of the disorder. Whenever the wake self, Sybil, was unable to cope with the situation, she then switched to one of the personalities—Peggy, Vicky etcetra – that she has inside in order to deal with the problem. All of these things led Sybil to feel anger and hatred towards her mother. The things that her mother did to her were seen to be the root cause for the development of her disorder; she was neglected and was not provided for the basic things that a child needs at a very young age – love and affection.

3. How did this disorder affect:
a. Her personal life

Sybil, although was able to go on with life, was unable to deal with life's struggles inappropriately. Having the disorder has also prevented her from doing things that she could and would have done had she not developed it. We have seen from the film that Sybil was artistically inclined – she seemed to be good at music and painting. If she had not developed the disorder, she could have been playing music or painting as a hobby and not hide it. It also has affected the possibilities of her having a stable love life. Like the time when she met Richard, she was torn if she would allow him inside her life or not. Because she knows that she was undergoing something and that she might scare away Richard if he happens to