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For other persons of the same name, see Shirley Mason. Shirley Ardell Mason (January 25, 1923 – February 26, 1998) was an American psychiatric patient and commercial artist whose life was documented in 1973 in the book Sybil, which was turned into the film of the same name in 1976. Both the book and the films used the name Biography Mason was born and raised in Dodge Center, Minnesota, the only child of Walter Mason (a carpenter) and Martha Alice "Mattie" Hageman. In regard to Mason's mother: "...many people in Dodge Center say Mattie--"Hattie" in the book--"was bizarre," according to Bettie Borst Christensen, who grew up across the street. "She had a witch-like laugh....She didn't laugh much, but when she did, it was like a screech." Christensen remembers the mother walking around after dark, looking in the neighbors' windows. At one point Mason was diagnosed with schizophrenia.[1] In the early 1950s, Mason was a substitute teacher and a student at Columbia University. She had long suffered from blackouts and emotional breakdowns, and finally entered psychotherapy with Cornelia B. Wilbur, a Freudian psychiatrist. Their sessions together are the basis of the book. Mason later moved to Lexington, Kentucky, where she taught art classes and ran an art gallery out of her home for many years. She died of breast cancer in 1998, at the age of 75. Sybil Sybil told the story of Mason, who was treated for multiple personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder) with reportedly up to 16 co-existing personalities. The book stated that Mason suffered from the condition as a result of severe sexual abuse at the hands of her mother, who Dr. Wilbur believed was schizophrenic.[2] The book was turned into a movie, starring Sally Field, in 1976. The movie was remade in 2008 with Jessica Lange as Dr. Wilbur and Tammy Blanchard in the title role. Controversy In 1998, Robert Rieber of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice presented a paper at the meeting of the American Psychological Association where he outlined the contents of a set of tape recordings that had been provided to him by Wilbur many years before.[3] Based on discussions in the tapes, he declared that Mason had not suffered from dissociative identity disorder at all. Rather, he proposed that Mason had been an "extremely suggestible hysteric" whom Wilbur had manipulated to secure a book deal with publishers who weren't interested in a book on a case of hysteria. That position was supported by Dr. Herbert Spiegel, who had briefly treated Mason while Wilbur was on vacation. According to Spiegel, Wilbur responded to his assertion that Mason didn't have dissociative identity disorder | ||||
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