this post was on a forum, but what I found
interesting was the reply to this post:
(and remember when we watched All About Eve or Nine Faces of Eve? at the ranch)

Whatever happened to the woman the movie Sybil was based on?
Glenellyn, Illinois

Dear M:
A search on "Sybil multiple personality" pointed us to a multiplicity of resources about the famous movie, the book it was based on, and the real story that inspired it all.
"Sybil" was the pseudonym of Shirley Ardell Mason, who was born January 25, 1923, in Dodge Center, Minnesota. Her parents were Walter Mason and Martha Alice Hageman Mason. According to the book Sybil, as a child Mason suffered from extreme abuse at the hands of her mother. While this is impossible to verify, childhood friends commented in a recent documentary that Mason's home life and relationship with her mother seemed unusual.

In the early 1950s, Mason moved to New York City to pursue graduate studies at Columbia University. Plagued by blackouts and breakdowns for many years, she began seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, who eventually diagnosed Mason with Multiple Personality Disorder. Wilbur discovered 16 different personalities within Mason and believed they were a result of severe child abuse. During 11 years of therapy, Wilbur and Mason worked to integrate these personalities into one complete self, and afterwards Mason found she was content and well adjusted.

In 1973, journalist Flora Rheta Schreiber wrote Mason's story with input from both Mason and Wilbur. In the book, Mason's name was changed to Sybil Dorsett to protect her privacy. The book Sybil was hugely popular and was made into a TV movie in 1976 starring Sally Field. Field won an Emmy for her performance, and the story of Sybil deeply influenced both pop culture and the mental health profession.

After the book was published, Mason moved to Lexington, Kentucky. Wilbur taught at the University of Kentucky, and the two remained close friends for the rest of their lives. Mason was an art teacher and a prolific painter. She lived a quiet life in Kentucky, going to a Seventh Day Adventist church, taking care of her pet poodles and cats, and playing Scrabble with Wilbur and a few close friends. She never married or had children. In 1998, Mason died of breast cancer at the age of 75, and it was not until after her death that she was publicly revealed as "Sybil."

In recent years, doctors and other pundits have debated whether or not Multiple Personality Disorder (now known as Disassociative Identity Disorder) really exists. Some claim that Mason's 16 personalities were created by Wilbur's suggestions during therapy. Both Mason and Wilbur are deceased (Wilbur died in 1992), so we may never know more about this unusual story.


sylvii posts:

Excellent quote…thanks for that one! …and, it shows me how 'off' I was with my 'thinking' (ie.,belief) about the multiple personalities.

Note where Elias says some have even close to hundred? Do you remember the book, When Rabbit Screams? That was a true story of individual who had 90-something, I think….can't remember exact number.

Years ago, when I 'moved' out of Ramtha's school and into Philip's 'teachings', there was a gal who had also gone to Ramtha's (and then Philip) and she was experiencing all these different personalities 'coming thru', except the difference was, she was aware of them.

She was really distraught because she wanted it to stop and no one seemed able to help. I do know she had several private sessions with Philip and he helped clear up a lot of her understanding (or lack of it). She, at least, had her family (mom and dad) also 'in the teachings' so they were able to give her support.

Anyway, what Elias says resonates more so than 'bleedthroughs' like I was thinking (but really didn't know).

Washington state

Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:49 EDST