LETTER FROM FMSF TO CBS

The CBS Team Att: Mike Wallace
Mental Health Issues
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019

Dear Mr. Wallace:

Re: Remake of Sybil by CBS/Viacom

These headlines presage both a profound challenge and an important opportunity with regard to the remaking of the 1976 Sybil in 2006.  The notion that Sybil suffered multiple personality disorder was a hoax that caused incalculable suffering for psychiatric patients and their families.  CBS is in a position to ameliorate some of that harm and to prevent yet another epidemic of irrational malpractice.

If there is any doubt about Sybil being a hoax, please review the following documents (included with this letter):

• The interview with Dr. Herbert Spiegel (who also worked with Sybil for four years).  Dr. Spiegel, a Professor at Columbia University and one of the most honored living psychiatrists, did not believe that Sybil had multiple personality disorder, but rather her behavior was a consequence of her treatment by Dr. Wilbur.[1]
• The audiotapes of treatment sessions and conversations between Dr Wilbur and author Flora Rheta Schreiber that have been discovered.  These document the "fraudulent construction of a multiple personality."[2]
• The documentation that the stories of her real childhood do not match the childhood in Sybil.[3]
• Memory research of the past decade that shows that the suggestive therapeutic techniques used by Dr. Wilbur with Sybil can cause the symptoms of MPD.[4]  Most psychiatrists are dubious about the diagnosis in general and question the possibility of iatrogenesis in specific.[5]
• In 1973, before the publication of Sybil, psychiatrists reported fewer than 200 possible cases of multiple personality disorder in the history of the world.  Following Sybil, and especially following the enthralling 1976 movie, a psychiatric tsunami swept North America and thousands and thousands of cases were diagnosed.  How could this be? Did doctors suddenly become better diagnosticians?  Had there been an epidemic of child abuse preceding Sybil that caused the explosion of cases?  Or was the medical profession and the public swayed by a compelling hoax? The research indicates the latter.[*]

A 2006 Sybil could be more than just a remake of the original movie.  It could be an opportunity for CBS to expand the story, perhaps with an epilogue that reflects 30 more years of the Sybil story.  It could be an opportunity for CBS to educate the public and to have a positive impact in the mental health field.

• To remake Sybil without including this full story will make CBS look foolish, or, even worse, put CBS in the position of perpetuating this bizarre and harmful hoax.
• To remake Sybil with this full story will show that CBS is responsible in its effort to correct the hoax.

Thousands of people have had their lives destroyed because of fad of a misdiagnosis of multiple personality disorder.  Here are the outcomes of a few of the hundreds of lawsuits against therapists that have been brought in the past decade by people diagnosed with MPD:[6]

FULTZ v. CARR and WALKER, 1996, settled out of court, one for $1.57 million, and the other for a confidential amount.  Patient sought help for mild depression and weight problems.  She was misdiagnosed with childhood sexual abuse, ritual abuse and MPD.  Her preschool children were also treated and persuaded that they were abused by a cult.

COOL v. OLSON, 1997, $2.4 million.  Defendant agreed to settle after 15 days of courtroom testimony.  Psychiatrist induced horrific and frightening memories of abuse, including demonic possession and misdiagnosed MPD.  Olsen convinced Cool she had 120 personalities, one of which was a duck.  (He then charged her insurance company for group therapy.)  Patient had originally entered therapy for bulimia and help after a traumatic event had befallen the family.

HAMANNE v. HUMENANSKY, 1995, $2.46 million.  Woman sought treatment for anxiety after a move, but was diagnosed with MPD and told she experienced childhood sexual and ritual abuse.

CARL v. KERAGA, 1997, $ 5.8 million.  Woman claims she was misdiagnosed and told she had over 500 personalities to cope with childhood abuse.  Her teenage children were also hypnotized and told they were victims of a cult.

GALE v. BRAUN, SACHS and HAMMOND, 2004, $7.5 million settlement.  Woman with mild depression was brainwashed into believing she was MPD, a member of a cult, and required sterilization in order not to bear any more babies to be sacrificed for the cult.  Gale, 52, never had any children.

BURGESS v. BRAUN, 1997, $10.6 million settlement.  Patient originally sought treatment for postpartum depression but was diagnosed MPD as a result of supposed sexual and ritual abuse including cannibalism and torture.  Her preschool children were also hospitalized, diagnosed MPD, and treated for satanic ritual abuse (SRA).

Over 24,000 families and patients whose lives have been devastated because of the unscientific beliefs in the type of therapy shown in Sybil have contacted the FMS Foundation.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  I would be pleased to provide you with more information, videotapes, or contacts with professionals and (with their permission) families and former MPD patients.

Yours very truly,
Pamela Freyd, Ph.D.

[*] MPD does exist but it is a consequence of the interaction between patient and a source of suggestion, usually a therapist. In the absence of outside influence, it can be caused by autosuggestion, a very rare phenomenon.