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Sybil

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Sybil
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 not know how she got there. She went home after that and there she continued to behave strangely; she would act as if somebody else is in the room and talk to him/her. She then bruises herself when she hit the window with her hand and that is when she goes to the hospital and the doctor that checked up on her noticed that she might have a neuropsychological disorder. He then referred her to Dr. Wilbur who then handled her. Sybil reported to be experiencing the following: having blackouts, tunnel vision, sometimes feeling like she is in another place, does not like being touched and that one time she woke up to find out that she is two years older. As she continued with her session with Dr. Wilbur, one would notice that sometimes she would remain catatonic for a considerably long period of time and would take no notice of the time. She even gets irritated by the mere ticking of a clock. Taking note of these behaviors exhibited by Sybil, she then is diagnosed to have the Dissociative Identity Disorder [formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder]. This disorder is now identified to be common effects of severe trauma in early childhood, mostly of repeated emotional, physical and sexual abuse. When a person is faced with an

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