Cornelia B. Wilbur
Encyclopedia
Cornelia B. Wilbur was an American
psychiatrist
. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1930 and was one of eight women medical college graduates in 1939. She was the first female medical student extern at Kalamazoo State Hospital, where she first treated an agoraphobic "hysterical" girl and came to believe that it was possible to treat the "hysteria" and not just the symptoms.http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/155/9/1274 Dr. Wilbur was a pioneer clinician, as well as an educator, researcher, and mentor for others in the field of psychiatry.
Wilbur is best known for her work with Shirley Ardell Mason
, a woman purportedly abused as a child who, Wilbur decided, had developed 16 different and distinct personalities as a result. A book, written by Flora Rheta Schreiber
, and a television film, both titled Sybil
, were ostensibly non-fiction accounts of the psychiatric treatment received by Mason while in Wilbur's care. She diagnosed and treated Mason for dissociative identity disorder
beginning in 1954 and continuing for 11 years.
Wilbur remained friends with Mason for the rest of her life, and the two women shared a home for some years. Since 1998, however, Wilbur's's diagnosis of Mason has publicly been called into serious question, and both she and Flora Schreiber have been accused of inventing or exaggerating the multiple personality diagnosis and manipulating Mason for professional and financial gain. The most recent critical examination of the "Sybil" story is Debbie Nathan
's book, Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case (Free Press, 2011).
Dr. Wilbur lectured around the world about child
, spouse, and elder abuse
and their repercussions, and advocated parenting education to prevent child abuse. She was also interested in increasing the admission rates of women to medical schools.http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/155/9/1274
In the late 1970s, Dr. Wilbur consulted on the case of Billy Milligan
, the first man to be acquitted of a crime in the United States by reason of insanity due to multiple personality disorder.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1930 and was one of eight women medical college graduates in 1939. She was the first female medical student extern at Kalamazoo State Hospital, where she first treated an agoraphobic "hysterical" girl and came to believe that it was possible to treat the "hysteria" and not just the symptoms.http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/155/9/1274 Dr. Wilbur was a pioneer clinician, as well as an educator, researcher, and mentor for others in the field of psychiatry.
Wilbur is best known for her work with Shirley Ardell Mason
Shirley Ardell Mason
Shirley Ardell Mason was an American psychiatric patient and commercial artist who was reputed to have multiple personality disorder. Her life was fictionalized in 1973 in the book Sybil, and two films of the same name were made in 1976 and 2007...
, a woman purportedly abused as a child who, Wilbur decided, had developed 16 different and distinct personalities as a result. A book, written by Flora Rheta Schreiber
Flora Rheta Schreiber
Flora Rheta Schreiber , an American journalist, was the author of the 1973 bestseller Sybil, the story of a woman who suffered from dissociative identity disorder....
, and a television film, both titled Sybil
Sybil (book)
Sybil is a 1973 book by Flora Rheta Schreiber about the treatment of Sybil Dorsett for dissociative identity disorder by her psychoanalyst, Cornelia B...
, were ostensibly non-fiction accounts of the psychiatric treatment received by Mason while in Wilbur's care. She diagnosed and treated Mason for dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis and describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities , each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment....
beginning in 1954 and continuing for 11 years.
Wilbur remained friends with Mason for the rest of her life, and the two women shared a home for some years. Since 1998, however, Wilbur's's diagnosis of Mason has publicly been called into serious question, and both she and Flora Schreiber have been accused of inventing or exaggerating the multiple personality diagnosis and manipulating Mason for professional and financial gain. The most recent critical examination of the "Sybil" story is Debbie Nathan
Debbie Nathan
Debbie Nathan is an American feminist journalist and writer, known for critiquing cultural and criminal justice panics about abuse of children, particularly accusations of chimeric "satanic" abuse in schools and public childcare institutions. She also writes about immigration, focusing on women and...
's book, Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case (Free Press, 2011).
Dr. Wilbur lectured around the world about child
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, spouse, and elder abuse
Elder abuse
Elder abuse is a general term used to describe certain types of harm to older adults. Other terms commonly used include: "elder mistreatment," "senior abuse," "abuse in later life," "abuse of older adults," "abuse of older women," and "abuse of older men."...
and their repercussions, and advocated parenting education to prevent child abuse. She was also interested in increasing the admission rates of women to medical schools.http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/155/9/1274
In the late 1970s, Dr. Wilbur consulted on the case of Billy Milligan
Billy Milligan
William Stanley Milligan , known as Billy Milligan, was the subject of a highly publicized court case in Ohio in the late 1970s. After having committed several felonies including armed robbery, he was arrested for three rapes on the Ohio State University campus. In the course of preparing his...
, the first man to be acquitted of a crime in the United States by reason of insanity due to multiple personality disorder.