1. Sybil exposed
Rachel Crosby

2. Shirley (Sybil) Ardell Mason
Born on January 25th, 1923 in Dodge Center, MN
Only Daughter of Walter and Martha “Mattie” Mason
Heavily involved in the church (Adventists)
Loved to read, write, color, and draw
Purple chickens, green rabbits
Works of the devil
Loved attention and to pretend
Wrote stories
Collected dolls

3. Seventh-Day Adventism
Beliefs
The world will end
Sex is strictly for procreation
Masturbation is a sin
The things we eat provoke this outcome
No fiction reading
William Miller (Founder)
Est. 1820’s in new York
End of the world fanatic
Church was all day Saturdays
Wednesday to confess sins
Neill Mason (Shirley's grandfather)
Believer
Family’s Religious views to
extend generation after generation

4. Walter Mason Born in 1883 in dodge center, MN
Rebelled against fathers religious views and left Adventism
Carpenter and Architect
Backwards earning
Met his spouse Mattie and Married in 1910

5. Martha “Mattie” Atikinson
Born in 1882 Emmetsburg, Iowa
8th child out of 11
Methodist
Flamboyant
Talked loudly
Shrill laugh
Strange habits

6. Early Years of Marriage
Well respected couple in the community
Walter rejoined Adventism
Wanted children right away but couldn’t
Mattie had major health problems
Nausea and lose weight
Body spasms
Easily tired
Nervous/Anxiety about everything
Cardiac damage
Diagnosis: anemia and asthenia
After years of miscarrying: Shirley was born 1923
PTSD
Converted 3 years later
Putting things right

7. The Blues ~ Not The Music
“The blues” est ???
Miscarried again (male fetus)
Anxiety
Depression
Angry
Sit motionless
Financial stress

8. Mason’s Financial Troubles
Stock market crash 1929
Lost businesses
Clerks job ~ 18.50/ a week
Mattie got a job
Hotel ~ $12/a week
Became somewhat distance with the church
Hard of Shirley
Separation from classmates
Fighting with parents about religion

9. Shirley’s Childhood Public school Few friends/ Socially awkward
Attending sabbath school (Sunday school) 
Dozen students every Saturday morning 
Trouble concentrating 
Mother scolded 
Imaginary friends 
Vicky- Catholic young and gentle girl 
Sam- spelt out Shirley’s initials 
Public school 
Few friends/ Socially awkward 
Played with dolls 
Naming them and playing pretend 
Peggy Ann, Peggy Lou...
Death of her grandmother in    (8 years old)
Acting out 
“Disease of only childhood”

10. Shirley’s Weird Habits
Strive for perfection
Pretend stories and acting on them
Oblivious to the outside world
Began getting anxious about everything (6th grade)
Things would be taken from her
Minor colds, headaches, nausea, constipation (enemas), 
Fears of “print”
Squinting
Freud article
Hysteria
Hand checking/washing
Twitching 
Sinful acts: Hairbrush 
Diagnosis: Anemia/Loneliness
Diagnosis: Hysteria

11. Teachers College Started at Mankato State Teachers College in 1941
Wanted to be a doctor but parents told her to become an art teacher instead 
Received a lot of attention from her art teachers and classmates
Experienced blackouts
Overdosing, hospitalizations, 
Kicked out in 1943, went back, kicked out again
Family moved to Omaha, Nebraska 
Met Dr. Wilbur shortly after 

12. Discussion Question
Many of Shirley’s symptoms are derived of her being an only child. Do you think things would have been different if she had siblings or was allowed to hang out with kids early on in her childhood?

13. Dr. Connie Wilbur Was raised in a family of pure scientists
Parents did not want her in medical school
“too stupid to be a doctor”
Mother sent her to a Winnwood, a Christian science school 
Father did not like this, but ultimately had no say
Located in Long Island, NJ 
Graduate in 1926

14. College Years William Smith College in NY Some Liberal art classes
Transferred to the University of Michigan in 1928 her junior year
Chemistry classes were not challenging enough at William’s
Extreme sexist work environments, chemistry was on of the worst at this time
4% of American chemists were women after WWI
Graduated in 1930

15. Early Years After College
Librarian
Volunteered at the American Chemical Society (ACS)
“Smoker” Meetings
Cigars, beers, half-naked women with porn movies playing
Very few girls in the society, even less attended the meetings
Spent free time at Arthur’s lab

16. Connie’s “clean” Break
New soap to cure skin disease
Athletes foot, June 1932
Got noticed my the ACS
Presentations in Washington D.C.
Article in Time Magazine
Gained fame and fortune

17. Dirty Soap Jumped the gun without tested on humans
Worked in a test tube
Father reported it saying that it didn’t work
One year later Connie released a statement
“Unless it is greatly diluted with an oil or salve as Vaseline, the substance could not be applied to mammals including man without irritation or detrimental effects”
Burned on contact with skin

18. Connie’s Change of Heart
“Became bored with chemistry” 
Exhausted and humiliated? 
Parents suggested getting married and starting a family 
“Do what women do” 
Connie wanted to be a doctor 
Money down the drain, not smart enough for medical school 

19. Doctor She Will Be Got into University of Michigan in the fall of 1934
Married Henry Wilbur (1934)
Finished a degree in in dentistry
Wealthy
Graves’ disease (Thyroid condition)
Heart palpitations, mood swings, hand shaking, etc.
Had to drop out for a year
Chose Psychiatry – fascinated by patients with Hysteria
Did not know Shirly at this point

20. Treating Hysterics Worked under professor Dr. Dieterle
Treated hysterics (Junior year) 
Graduated in 1939 
Internship in neuropsychiatry
Shock treatment 
Deliberate insulin comas 
Cure? 
Major backlash, stopped doing this therapy 
Dieterle private psychiatry practice 
First taste of multiple personality disorder 

21. Asylum Work Pontiac, Michigan 1941 Mind-numbing drugs
Conducted experiments on patients
"Scientific" research for publications
Barbiturates (Pentothal)
"Truth Serum" 
's police departments used to get confessions 
In 1942, moved to Omaha 
Lobotomy work 

22. Cont. 1944, WWII Soldiers being injected with barbiturates
Boss Dr. Bennett filmed her work so other psychiatrists could learn her techniques 
Acted as if it was a blockbuster film 
"My father says my mother hates me" 
Making miracles through chemistry 

23. Teaching Position University of Nebraska Own private practice
Being a women didn’t matter at this point 
WWII ended
Lost her practice 
Didn’t know what to do with her life 
Continued to work with hysteric women
August 1st, 1945 Connie and Shirly finally met 

24. Meeting For the First Time
Mason family was living in Omaha at the time 
Symptoms had been somewhat manageable 
Still using her hairbrush 
Referred to see Connie 
5 sessions, met once a month 
More fascinated with each other every session
"Mind cure" instead of "truth serum"
Henry received a job in Kentucky
Divorced, Connie wanted to become a psychoanalysis
Connie's departure; Shirley was devastated 
Panic attack 

25. Time A part ~ Shirley No more psychotherapy
Positive thinking, peaceful thoughts when nervous, occasionally used sleeping pills 
Could now read non-fiction
Decided she wanted to finish her degree; double major in English and Art 
Freudian 
Psychology courses at University of Omaha 
Transferred back to Mankato 
Mothers illness, died in 1948 ~ returned to Mankato 

26. Shirley ~ Cont.
Father got a girlfriend right away; would marry her a decade later 
Florence Eichman; didn’t get along with Shirley 
Graduated in 1949
Family moved to Denver 
First job; art therapist for the mentally ill 
Porter Hospital and Sanitarium 
Some symptoms creeped back, 27 years old, weighed 76 lbs. 
Family moved to Michigan, Shirley got her own place near Detroit
Began teaching again

27. Shirley Cont.. Taught 400 grade schooler
Hectic schedule: lesson plans, grading, submitting students work, troubled students 
Remained physically and mentally fragile 
At the age of 30, felt she was lost in a blackhole of loneliness 
1953, applied to graduate school 
Started at Columbia Teachers College in NYC 
Minor health problems (colds), fixed right away 
Making friends; Willie and Maureen 
Met back up with Connie shortly after arriving

28. Time A part ~ Connie Arrived in Manhattan in early 1946
A psychiatrist at Halloran Hosptial part-time, as well as VA outpatient clinics
Experience with narcosynthesis and shock therapy was a plus
Still involved with Pentothal 
Wanted to do more; psychoanalysis 
Trained at got certified at the NY Medical College in 1951
Where the money was
One-hour sessions were up to $50. Equivalent to $550 today

29. Connie ~ Cont. Private practice in Psychoanalysis near the hospital
In 1953, met her second husband Fredrick Keith Brown; sought treatment to get through his divorce 
Former federal prosecutor, turned private insurance company attorney 
Very, very rich.....see a pattern here? 
Traveled to LA for the American Psychiatric Association (APA) convention 
Eve White, Eve Black and Jane 
Fascination with MPD was brought back to light 

30. They Meet Again....In 1954 Met by chance
Hysteric symptoms returned: constipation, colds, headaches, nausea, weight loss 
Six sessions; didn’t tell her father 
Connie prescribed powerful habit-forming drugs: Seconal (sleeping pill), Demerol (related to heroin), Edrisal and Daprisal (aspirin with amphetamines, aka Speed) 
Fugue state 
Connie met Peggy...

31. Cont. More drugs!!! Showed up as Peggy, then Shirley, then Vicky.....
Exposed what Freud called "the unconscious"…..Shirley would make an excellent research project. 
In 1955 Connie was injecting Pentothal to psychoanalyze each personality 
Horror stories of Mattie arise 
No actual evidence (enemas?) 
Shirley got her masters in 1955 
In 1956, symptoms got worse...more drugs her way 
Dexamyl, Equanil, Serpatilin (tranquilizer)
Would often double or quintuple dosages 
More drugs!!! 
Ritalin, Thorazine and Phenobabital

32. Cont.. Pentothal dosages everyday
Made Shirley sick, Connie blamed it on mothers abuse 
Loss of time 
Make house visits; very inappropriate therapist/client relationship 
Addicted to Pentothal 
Was now too dangerous 
4 years after starting therapy, Shirley, 35 at the time
Wrote a confession letter to Connie 

33. "I am none of the things I have Pretended to be
"I am none of the things I have Pretended to be...I have tried to tell you before but could not hold out very long when you showed doubts, and an actual desire to believe I was...
I AM NOT GOING TO TELL YOU THERE ISN'T ANYTHING WRONG, BUT IT IS NOT WHAT I LED YOU TO BELIEVE...I DO NOT HAVE ANY MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES, I DO NOT EVEN HAVE A 'DOUBLE', I AM ALL OF THEM, I WAS LYING"

34. Flora Schreiber Struggling freelance writer for women magazines
Went back to teaching after her father's death in 1958; still wrote
When Connie first contacted Flora, she was 44 years old
Years later, Connie brought up the idea of writing Sybil 
Flora met Shirley 
Wouldn’t write the book unless her 16 personalities were "integrated" 
Couldn’t start until 1965, Connie predicted to be ready as well 
Started writing it, but didn’t get picked up by an editor until 1969 ~ edited it nonstop until 1972 ~ published in 1973 

35. Fame and Fortune Sybil sold almost 7 million copies worldwide
Extreme increase in diagnosing; less than 100 cases spiked to the thousands 
Television drama and movies were being made 
Shirley avoided the spotlight, Connie (64) and Flora (57) flourished in it 

36. Controversies High impact of drug side effects
Hallucinations, blackouts, loss of memory
Misdiagnosing? 
Emotional attachment 

37. Life After Sybil
Connie moved to Louisville, Kentucky, Shirley followed 
Became roommates when Connie got sick, took care of her until she died in from Parkinson's, 84
Shirley remained in Kentucky until she died from breast cancer in 1998, 75 
Flora 
Continued writing 
Died of a heart attack at the age of 70 in Manhattan

38. Discussion Questions
It is clear to see Connie and Shirley's relationship was unethical. With how APA guidelines are now, what might have happened if a psychiatrist treated a client like Dr. Wilbur treated Shirley? 
Do you think Shirley really had multiple personality disorder? Why or why not?