Sybil Exposed
Page 37
Throwaway Children, The (Richette), 156–57
Toffler, Alvin, 115
transference, 63–64, 65
transference neurosis, 82
Tytell, Peter, 168, 271n
Weeks, Anita, 14
Weston State Hospital, 138–39, 140, 146
West Virginia, 138, 139, 140, 146, 149, 191
White, Ellen G., 5–6, 10, 22–23, 66
Wilbur, Cornelia “Connie,” xviii–xix, xx–xxi, 67, 87–88, 149, 160–61, 164, 167, 176, 180, 193, 222, 231, 232, 233, 236, 237, 261n
anti-fungal soap invention of, 25–26, 37, 62
articles published by, 49, 148
in blaming childhood trauma for patients’ mental issues, xiv, 52, 84, 95, 101, 103, 105, 108, 119, 190, 211, 216, 220–21
in book project collaboration, xii, xv, xvii, xx–xxi, 98, 122, 123, 124, 134, 137, 139, 141, 142–43, 146, 150–51, 155–56, 158, 159, 171, 172, 202
chemistry career of, 24–26, 37, 62
childhood of, 20, 21–23
Christian Science background of, 22–23, 26, 62
death of, 221, 230
as depicted in Sybil, xiii, xiv, xv, 157, 170, 175, 182, 185, 186, 234
Dodge Center trip of, 135–37, 189
drugs prescribed by, 88–89, 97, 99, 104, 110, 128, 140
ethical misconduct of, xviii, 97, 103, 124–26, 147, 204, 212, 234–35
factual discrepancies dismissed by, 107–8, 111, 158, 166, 183, 185, 220
fake evidence cooked up by, 166–68
family background of, 20–21
F.K. Brown’s marriage to, 83, 125, 139, 146, 194, 196, 201, 202
Graves’ disease of, 20, 27, 37
Henry Wilbur’s marriage to, 27, 53, 63, 66
homosexuality as viewed by, 105, 119–22, 133–34
house calls made by, xviii, 97, 99–101, 103, 124
hysteria treated by, 27, 37, 43, 44, 51–52, 53, 62, 126
Jan Morrow’s treatment with, 195–96, 221
manipulating of patients by, xi, xiii, xvii, xviii, 94, 101, 108, 109–11, 130, 131–33, 158, 164, 166, 190, 211, 220–21, 228
Mason’s attempted Adventist conversion of, 126–27
Mason’s claims accepted by, 93, 95, 132, 136–37, 158, 159, 166, 182, 194, 220–21
Mason’s financial dependence on, xviii, 97, 98, 111, 124, 128, 129, 137, 145, 214, 230
Mason’s improper relationship with, xviii, 62, 65, 75, 97, 103, 124–26, 128, 146, 164, 182, 194–95, 197, 202, 205, 212, 214, 215, 225
Mason’s protected anonymity and, 151, 172, 186, 189–90, 200–201, 214
Mason’s psychoanalyst ambitions encouraged by, 88, 98, 127–28, 137, 140
Mason’s unhealthy attachment to, xviii, 62–65, 75, 88, 97, 108, 110, 111, 125, 131, 134, 137–38, 140, 214, 215
maternal approach to patients of, xx, 44, 84, 97, 100, 101, 110, 126, 147, 183
Mattie Mason demonized by, xiii, 65, 95, 97, 101, 106–7, 108, 110, 133, 158
media promotion by, 173, 174–75, 193, 209, 213
mental hospitals run by, 138, 140, 146, 209–12
MPD zealously treated and promoted by, xxi, 91, 107, 147–48, 195, 209–14, 215–17, 218, 219, 221, 227, 234
Open Hospital opened by, 209–12, 213, 219
parents’ lack of encouragement for, 20, 22, 26–27, 62, 219
Pentothal administered by, 47, 48, 50, 51–52, 53, 63, 80, 83, 93–96, 97, 98, 99, 100–101, 102–4, 107–8, 109, 110, 111, 136, 157, 158, 163, 183, 184, 191
physical appearance of, 22, 119, 135, 141, 183, 215, 221
private practices of, 52, 75, 83–84, 195
professional ambitions of, 20, 22, 24, 26–27, 44, 46, 53, 62, 63, 66, 79–80
professional notoriety and fame of, 25–26, 37, 50, 52, 118, 148, 151, 213, 219, 221
Roddy McDowall as patient of, 118–20, 125
schooling of, 22–23, 24, 26–27, 37, 43, 44, 46, 83, 88
Schreiber’s first collaboration with, 120–22
Schreiber’s strained relationship with, 175, 202, 207
sexism faced by, 20, 22, 24–25, 37, 52, 63
shock treatments administered by, 44, 47, 48–49, 80, 99–100, 101
Stern’s list of Sybil queries for, 181, 183
Sybil legal action and, 192, 193, 194, 206
at University of Kentucky Medical School department, 146–48, 171, 195, 211, 213–14, 227
Walter Mason’s meetings with, xiv, 104–5, 170
West Virginia move of, 138–39, 140, 141, 143, 145–46
Wilbur, Henry Marsh, 27, 53, 63
Wilbur-Mason therapy sessions, 75, 87, 89–96, 97–111, 125, 126–27, 230
as depicted in Sybil, xv, 169–70, 172, 182
destroyed records of, 221
drugs prescribed in, 63, 88–89, 97, 99, 102, 104, 110, 128, 140
electro-convulsive treatments in, 99–100, 101
emergence of new “alternate” personalities in, 90–92, 98, 100, 104, 108, 131, 155
factual discrepancies in “memories” recalled in, 136, 158, 161–64, 166
false memories and, xiii, 93–95, 103, 107, 108–11, 130, 158, 182
first emergence of “alternate” personalities in, 90–92, 106, 155, 169–70, 175
fugue states explored in, 89–90, 92–93, 99, 101, 106, 182
hypnosis used in, xi, xii–xiii, xiv, xv, 130, 132–33, 136, 139, 155, 158, 163, 175, 183
initial sessions in, 53, 54, 62–66, 76, 87, 89–90, 106
“integration” of multiple personalities in, 140–41, 143
Mason’s deteriorating mental health and, 98–99, 100, 101, 103–4, 105, 110, 123
Mason’s recanting letter in, 105–8, 166
Mattie Mason demonized in, xiii, 65, 95, 97, 101, 106–7, 108, 110, 133, 158, 184
“memories” of abuse recovered in, xi, xii–xiii, 94, 103, 107, 108–11, 132–33, 136, 155, 157–58, 162, 164, 184–85
narcosynthesis in, xiv, xviii, 92, 93–96, 97, 98, 99, 100–101, 102–4, 107, 108–11, 136, 155, 157, 158, 163, 171, 175, 183, 191
search for hidden childhood trauma in, xiv, 92, 93–96, 97, 101, 102, 103, 109, 110, 132
taped recordings of, 93, 98, 107, 109–11, 126, 155, 157, 163, 183, 184–85, 186
transcripts of, xi, xii, xiii, 93–96, 126, 185
transference in, 63–66, 75, 125, 126
unorthodox house calls in, xviii, 97, 99–101, 103, 124
Wilbur’s manipulation of patient in, xi, xiii, xvii, xviii, 94, 101, 108, 109–11, 130, 131–33, 158, 164, 166, 220–21, 228 see also Mason, Shirley Ardell;
Wilbur, Cornelia “Connie”
Winfrey, Oprah, 222
Winsey, Aubrey, 163–65
Winsey, Val, 163–65
Woltman, Henry, 60–61
Woodward, Joanne, 185, 186
Zilboorg, Gregory, 81
Zitrin, Arthur, 84
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debbie Nathan has been a journalist, editor, and translator for over three decades. She specializes in writing about immigration, the U.S.–Mexico border, sexual politics, and sex panics, particularly in relation to women and children. Her work has won numerous national and regional awards.
In the late 1980s, Debbie was the first journalist to do in-depth critical work for the national press about the “ritual sex abuse” panic that peaked in the United States in the mid- to late 1980s. Her writing about these sex-abuse scandals helped free some falsely convicted defendants, including day care aide Kelly Michaels in New Jersey.
Debbie appears in the Academy Award–nominated documentary Capturing the Friedmans, the story of accused child molesters Arnold and Jesse Friedman. She is a board member of the National Center for Reason and Justice (NCRJ). This nonprofit organization advocates for intelligent, humane approaches to preventing child abuse and dealing with accused offenders.
Debbie was raised in Houston, Texas, and currently lives in New York City with her husband, Morten Naess. Sh
e has two children, Sophy and Willy.
Shirley Mason’s childhood home in Dodge Center, Minnesota, where she claimed she was abused by her mother for years, yet no one ever noticed.
Shirley Mason as a young girl. Courtesy Arlene Christensen
A 7th Day Adventist Camp, similar to one where Shirley worshipped as a young girl. Courtesy Minnesota Historical Society
The future Dr. Connie Wilbur, as a young woman, from her 1930 University of Michigan yearbook.
A frail Shirley Mason, circa 1933. A close look reveals that her eyes are rolled back, suggesting that she is in a self-induced trance state. Courtesy Arlene Christensen
Shirley Mason and Jean Lane featured in their art classes in the college yearbook. Courtesy Minnesota State University, Mankato
Dr. Wilbur injects a patient in World War II–era Omaha with barbiturates to induce “narcosynthesis.” Note the enormous needle. Courtesy The Nebraska Medical Center and National Library of Medicine
Dr. Wilbur compares the behavior of one troubled patient before and after treatment. Courtesy The Nebraska Medical Center
A young Flora Schreiber working at NBC in New York. From Film and Radio Discussion Guide.
The Schreiber family, who lived together for most of Flora’s life. Courtesy Sealy Library Special Collections, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The faculty of John Jay College, circa 1965. Flora Schrieber is third from the left. Courtesy Sealy Library Special Collections, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
A rail-thin Shirley Mason, looking posh and cosmopolitan, shortly before she moved to New York City in 1954. Courtesy David Eichman
A sample of Shirley’s art during the time she was being treated by Dr. Wilbur. The name of this piece was “Good Mother/Bad Mother.”
A sample of Shirley’s journals from one of her therapy sessions, in which she writes about her mother “I hate her” seventeen times. In contrast to her beautiful script, the drug-induced writing is barely legible. Courtesy Sealy Library Special Collections, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
An idolatrous letter written to Dr. Wilbur by Shirley. In her gorgeous cursive, Shirley writes, “I think whatever you say must of course be right and it’s intolerable ever to think you might be mistaken about anything …” Courtesy Sealy Library Special Collections, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The building that housed Open Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, where Dr. Wilbur allowed patients the run of the slowly decaying space.
Dr. Connie Wilbur at the West Virginia University. Courtesy West Virginia University
Shirley Mason during a trip to Mexico in late 1973. Courtesy Dianne Morrow
Shirley Mason, Dianne Morrow, and Connie Wilbur in Connie’s home in 1989. The art on the walls behind them is Shirley’s. Courtesy Dianne Morrow
Flora Schreiber dressed in the finery of her later life. Courtesy Jiro Kimura
Dr. Connie Wilbur at a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, circa 1965. Courtesy Bentley Historical Library, The University of Michigan
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