History of Psychiatry

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Hypnosis, false memory and multiple personality: a trinity of affinity

Robert W. Rieber
History of Psychiatry 1999; 10; 003
DOI: 10.1177/0957154X9901003701
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003

Hypnosis, false memory and multiple

personality: a trinity of affinity*
ROBERT W. RIEBER

a discussion of the relationship between hypnosis, false

multiple personality. Since Morton Princes classic case of multiple
personality (Prince 1906), only two other cases rival Princes original work
(Thigpen and Cleckley 1957, Schreiber 1973) in popularity.
This paper illustrates startling new material regarding the third most famous
of multiple personality cases, that of Sybil. Tape recordings recently discovered
document the fraudulent construction of multiple personality. The importance of
the role of hypnosis is discussed in this presentation. The author of this paper
knew the author of Sybil, Flora Schreiber, through many years before her death,
and therefore is able to present first-hand information about the author and her

This paper presents

memory, and

work.
... to suggest during a trance the appearance of a secondary personage
with a certain temperament and that secondary personage will usually
give itself a name. One has therefore to be on ones guard in this matter
against confounding naturally double persons and persons who are simply
temporarily endowed with the belief that they must play the part of being
double.
Prince, 1890 (William James comments upon Morton Princes paper)

After all,
dissociated
woman,
not so

Miss Beauchamp used to say, referring to her different

personalities, B1, B3, and B4 - the saint, the devil and the
they are all myself. And perhaps after all, Miss Beauchamp was
as

very much unlike the rest of us.

Morton Prince, 28

It

was

Morton Prince who

wrote

the first

fully

April 1915 (Rieber 1997)

described

case

Paper

of

multiple

presented at the American Psychological Associations Annual Convention San Francisco,

1998. Address for correspondence: John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Department of Psychology,
445West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019, USA.

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personality (The

Dissociation of Personality, London, 1906). Since then only

have rivalled Princes original classic, Corbett Thigpen and
Hervey Cleckleys Three Faces of Eve (New York: Popular Library, 1957) and
Flora Rheta Schreibers Sybil (New York: Warner Communications, 1973).
This paper will present startling new material regarding the third and most
famous case of multiple personalities, that of Sybil. Tape recordings recently
discovered will be presented that document the fraudulent construction of
multiple personality. The author of this paper knew Dr Schreiber, the author
of Sybil, for many years before her death and therefore will be in a position to
present first-hand information about the author and her work.
The history of hypnosis clearly reveals four murky explanatory principles
for the understanding of hypnotic phenomenon. The first is based on the
notion that hypnosis is reducible merely to a brain state (Hilgard 1977).
The second is based on the notion that hypnotic phenomenon is basically
reducible to a mind state (Braid 1846). The third assumes hypnosis is
nothing more than a persons socially constructed reality (Sarbin and Coe
1972, Spanos 1996). And the last is premised on the notion that hypnosis is
a myth and does not exist at all (Barber 1969). In this paper, however, the
author will argue that hypnosis is best understood as a special kind of
interpersonal relationship that requires a specific type of mental ability or
capacity on the part of the person being hypnotized (Spiegel and Spiegel
1978). This capacity of hypnotizability is a dynamic interaction process that
takes place between an individuals given capacity for suggestion and
dissociation. The degree of trust, motivation and co-operation between the
individuals involved is also an essential factor.
Michael G. Kenny (1986) has skilfully shown that multiple personality is
not simply a mental disorder but rather a complex metaphorical response to
the complexities within a given culture. Although Kennys book is an
important historical contribution to helping us understand the social factors
that may facilitate the development of Multiple Personality Disorder, now
referred to as Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID in the DSM-IV
(American Psychiatric Association, 1994), it fails to appreciate the mental
abilities inherent in the individual who is highly hypnotizable.
The second work I would like to make specific reference to is by Ian
Hacking (1998). In his book, Hacking takes on a worthy cause, namely a
systematic expose of the shallow practices of a misrepresentation of DID and
its intrinsic relationship to the recollection of false memories in psychotherapy.
Carefully mapping out the historical background and endless polemics as
well as the various epistemological issues, Hackings book has some important
contributions to make. This paper will provide documentary evidence of the
fraudulent aspects of the Sybil case, which Hacking alludes to in his book.
Nevertheless, Hackings book suffers from a serious defect, namely he does
not understand the nature of hypnosis nor does he adequately understand
the dynamics of Morton Princes (1906) famous Sally Beauchamp case. One
two

other

cases

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also wonder why Hacking finds no problem with Jeffrey Massons

theory discussed in his book (Masson 1984). This lack of criticism is
especially puzzling since Massons role in the trouble in Freuds archives
affair with Kurt Eisler is as irresponsible and self-serving as most of Hackings
false memory and multiple personality cases (Rieber 1998).
While admitting the unwitting collaboration between patient and therapist
has much to do with the number and nature of the multiple personality,
Hacking fails to see the significance of the reversal in the two characters in
the classic nineteenth-century case of Louis Vivet, as described by Bourru
and Burot (1885, 1886). The normal person was the criminal type and
therefore would not count as the normal state, while the condition of the
second person was docile and pious, etc. Clearly this is not an accidental
reversal of a typical case, as that in the book Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, rather it
is much more typical of a psychopathic malingerer. To make things even
worse, the use of Princes Beauchamp case suggests that Hacking failed to
read Princes book carefully. If Hacking had understood what Prince had to
say, he would know that Morton Princes handling of this famous case was
not monkey business as were most of those Hacking discussed.
Finally, we must take serious issue with Hackings discussion of
Humphrey and Dennet (1989) and Braude (1991). Hacking argues his
position as follows:
He contends that the very phenomenon of a multiple personality demands a
must

unity under the multiplicity. Starting with almost exactly the same suppositions
as Ribot, he concludes that there must be a transcendental ego. Who is right,
Ribot or Braude? One possibility is that one of the two men is right. The other
are wrong, no conclusions about the self can be derived from the
of
phenomena multiple personality. I take the latter view.

is that both

If we understand Hacking correctly, he totally disbelieves that the study of

the abnormal throws some light on the normal and vice versa. Such a
conclusion seems a superficial conclusion at best. Just because there have
been so many historical misrepresentations of the diagnosis of DID in the
literature, it does not warrant the conclusion that nothing can be learned
from DID regarding the nature of the mind. Surely if one accurately
understood the doubleganger clinically in the history of Dissociative
Disorders, there is much to be learned about this important human capacity
of dissociation in terms of how it has both creative and destructive potential
in human consciousness and mentation (Rieber 1997).
Personal account of my involvement in the Sybil case
Sometime during the fall of 1972 Flora Rheta Schreiber, who at that point
was a colleague of mine at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, was
discussing with me her book Sybil. Flora was most anxious to have the Sybil
case written up in a legitimate scientific journal and was quite frustrated

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because the paper she and Dr Cornelia Wilbur had prepared for that purpose
had been turned down on several occasions. Flora knew I was doing research
on the language of the mentally ill at the New York State Psychiatric
Institute. With this in mind, she handed me a bag of cassette tape recordings
that she described as good material for you to do a study on. I remember
having played one or two of the tapes to test the amount of background noise
that was present in the recordings and abandoned the project because the
tapes were too noisy. Our study had to do with pause time and phonation
time in the dialogue of conversation. I believe Floras motivation in giving
me the tapes was to obtain scientific publication in a good journal in order to
support the legitimacy of the Sybil case. I stashed away the tapes in one of
my desk drawers for many years and believe I must have thrown a number of
the tapes out because they were out of their cassette box and I assumed they
were not worth keeping for re-use.
At any rate, I had completely forgotten about the tapes until the spring of
1997 when Dr Herbert Spiegel, a colleague of mine, was discussing an
interview which was conducted with him about the Sybil case (New York
Review of Books, article by Borch-Jacobsen 1997). It was during that occasion
I remembered that I probably had some tapes Flora had given me concerning
the Sybil case. A search through my office desk drawers revealed two onehour tapes consisting of a dialogue between Wilbur and Schreiber regarding
the writing of their book. After having recently listened to the recordings for
the very first time, I was shocked to hear how much important information
was contained therein that would help us understand the real story behind

Sybil

as a

multiple personality.

Herbet Spiegel, in his interview with Borch-Jacobsen (1997), made it quite

clear that although he had an extensive clinical knowledge of the case, he was
not interested in collaborating with Schreiber and Wilbur in the writing of
their book. They were interested in writing a book on multiple personality
and Sybil was, as Spiegel put it, a case of hysteria and not a multiple
personality. Upon careful examination of the two hours of conversation and
the production of the written protocol of the tapes, highlights of the
Schreiber-Wilbur dialogue and their significance will now be discussed.

Highlights and significance of the tape recording

The tape recordings can be broken down into ten section headings:
1. Dr Cornelia Wilbur labels

Here all the

personalities

Sybil as a multiple personality

are

said

to

be free

to come

forth,

no matter

who

The original cassette tape recordings and complete transcripts of the protocol of these
recordings will eventually be deposited in the Oskar Diethelm Library for the History of Psychiatry,
Department of Psychiatry, New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical College.

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the body. Wilbur states, Then she [Sybil] went on, uh, and told me
about Peggy Lou and Peggy Ann. And then I said to her ... I wanted all of
them to feel free to come during the appointment hours, no matter who was
using the body. I wanted all of them to feel free to come. Wilbur then
indicates she will tell Sylvia that she was a multiple personality.
uses

...

2. Dr Wilbur gives the

multiple personalities their personal characteristics and

rather
than
plants Vicky
probing her
It is clear from Wilburs own words that she was not exploring for the truth
but rather planting the truth as she wanted it to be. For example, she
explains, And I said, well, theres a personality who calls herself Peggy. And
uh, I said, she is pretty self-assertive ... she can do things you cant, and she
[Sybil] was very, uh, obviously perturbed by this. Wilbur continues, And I
said... she wouldnt do anything that you wouldnt approve of. She might do
something that you wouldnt think of doing ... And, uh, I told her ... there
were at least two others, or three others, two Peggys. And,
it was Peggy
Lou and Peggy Ann. And I said the other one calls herself Vicky. And she
said, oh, I remember that.
...

Inventing the primal scene, the grand illusion of an explanatory principle, and
making the punishment fit the crime in the book
The Freudian idea of the primal sexual scene and sexual abuse are obviously
topics that will make any book both sensational and sexy. In keeping with
these themes, Dr Cornelia Wilbur states, And this business of the primal
scene. And being forced to sleep in the same bedroom with her fucking
parents. And I mean they were... is a very large thing you see. And this thing
you see, that constantly drove Mary to want to have her own house. Flora
Schreiber replies, Connie ... Did Mary carry the burden of the primal
scene? I thought it was Peggy who did.
At this point, Wilbur begins to discuss the story in the first chapter of the
book. Here she brings up the details of the primal scene, during which Sybil
is only a few years old. Assuming literary license, Flora elaborates by
remembering for Sybil as she would imagine it to be. Wilbur explains, They
screwed in front of her. She could see because her crib was here, the window
was there, and the streetlight was right outside. She could see her father
having an erection and putting it in her mothers vagina ... Did you know
3.

that?
4.

1rojection of their own guilt of being a fraud to others;

there is

madness in

their method and method in their madness

The conversation then drifts into the benefits of the enterprise and Wilbur
mentions her wish fulfilment,I hope to God the book makes money before
Florence [Sybils step-mother] drops dead.
The question of what kind of therapy was administered then becomes the

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topic of conversation. Wilbur says that she heard Franz Alexander allowed
himself to get personally involved with his patients in order that he might
help them. Wilbur states, So because I became involved enough ... in the
multiple personalities so that when trouble arose, I, there wasnt anybody
else had to go to bat for her. She had no family. And if anybody was going to
keep track of her, I had to. Well, now this, according to the formalist, in
psychoanalysis, is stepping outside. But I leamt this trick from a very, very
fine source. I learned it from Franz Alexander. And uh, uh, the reason was,
because I respected these people a great deal.
Schreiber replied, Had you worked with them? Wilbur answered, No, I
had not. But I knew a great deal about their work and knew that, uh, they
were not beyond experimenting in terms of their relationship with patients.
Manufacturing Sybils memories
One must remember that memories, especially in DID
5.

cases, can be easily

created if you are not careful. Dr Wilbur states, The first time we got any
memories back, was ... when ... I gave her pentothal ... and I said, when
you were on pentothal you said so and so. And she said, oh I hadnt thought
about that in years. Ive forgotten all about it
So I decided that I lost too
much ... trying to tell her what she said. So what I did was to tape what she
said ... played the tapes back so she could hear herself say it. Now this was
very interesting. She would remember this for a certain period of time and
then she would lose some of
it
Now one of the things
Re-forget
that happened with the pentothal was that she liked it a great deal because it
relieved her anxiety and the day after she had pentothal, she felt perfectly
well ... And, as a consequence, she became quite... involved. And on two or
three occasions very demanding, about having pentothal ... And it worried
me because I had the feeling she was getting addicted. At least psychologically. And I didnt want to go from a multiple personality to an addiction.
After the pentathol was administered, hypnosis was also administered in
what Flora Schreiber called unleashing the unconscious. Schreiber refers to
sodium pentathol as truth serum which of course it is not, but for her
purposes it works well. She goes on to make reference to what happened in
hypnosis as she says to Dr Wilbur, You introduced me to all the personalities
Uh, you did do that on the pentothal?
Wilbur replies, Well, excepting sometimes ... well, I did do it on the
well who
pentothal too. I mean, I would say to whoever was talking to me
are you? Well, Im talking for, you know, and theyd name three or four. And
I would say, what does Peggy think about this? What does Vicky think about
this? And they would say, Well, I dont know. And I would say, can I talk to
Vicky ... I could summon them [all].
...

...

...

...

...

...

Shaping the rationale for Sybil as an honest liar

Wilbur says to Sylvia, ... isnt there is some connection
6.

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between you and

these other

personalities? Then Wilbur goes on to explain to Sybil that she

multiple personality and there was a connection. She says, ... right
after, I explained to her that she was a multiple personality. And I said, I am

was a

sure ... there is a connection between you and these other states. And you
need to find that connection ... to build a bridge between you and these
other states.

Sybil becomes confused about her personalities, especially whether they are
aware of each other
At this point it is important for Schreiber and Wilbur to work out who is who
in the line-up of multiple personalities. Wilbur begins the discussion by
mentioning the following: She [Sybil] said, I can explain it to you but it is
very difficult. She said, here on this side is Sylvia. And here on this side is
me, Peggy and, I guess, some others. Wilbur goes on to say, See, I knew
about Peggy and Vicky at this point but I didnt know much about the
others. And she said, that there isnt any connection between us at all
Except way underneath ... And she stuck her hand under her leg like this.
Yep. She said, except way underneath. And she said, there isnt really a
connection, theres just a possibility of a connection ... Well, Ive thought
about this many, many times. And I think that what she was trying to say,
was that, if you consider all the altered states of consciousness, say in layers
that up here ... There isnt any real connection between Sylvia, and us.
But way down deep, there is a connection.
7.

...

...

Creating the cause, i. e., The Abuse Excuse

now get into the particulars about the sexual abuse. Dr Wilbur,
explained, If Sylvia got put upon by somebody they [the other personalities]
were just terribly annoyed that Sylvia didnt do something about it. Flora
Schreiber comments, Yeah, but in childhood when mother ... ah, stuck a
you know, ice water up Sylvias bladder. The rest of them felt it.
Wilbur replies, Uh, yeah, because they shared the body but they didnt
have the emotions. Schreiber responds, Now Peggy, and Clara, and Ruthie,
report cruelties. Several of the personalities report cruelties ... Wilbur, But
you need to watch it. Are they reporting cruelties that they were
experiencing?
Schreiber replies, Or are they the Greek chorus for Sylvia?
8.

We

...

9. The amnesia wears off and Sybil admits to her false confession
It is typical for hysterics as well as some Dissociative Identity Disorder
individuals to have an amnesia effect and then for it to wear off, thus making
them look as if they are inconsistent in their understanding of what happened
to them. Sybil gives us a beautiful illustration of the amnesia effect. For
example, Flora Schreiber states, And there is one thing you mustnt forget
is Sylvias fantastic letter ... In which Sylvia said it was all a hoax. You
...

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10

know, that she never was a multiple personality. And, her mother
good to her, and everything. It was a total denial.

was

very

10.

Teaching Sybil to hate and then explaining it

Our last section deals with an irresponsible by-product of getting too
emotionally involved in the treatment of your patient. Wilbur and Schreiber
have become the surrogate parents for Sybil and the consequence is that they
must destroy any competition including Sybils real parents. This is
exemplified in the following text: Wilbur states, Because I was pushing her.
And uh, she wanted to get out from under ... I was pushing her in terms of,
you dont love your mother. Your mother was wicked, bad, cruel, painful.
And you really hated ... If you dont hate her, you ought to. And there is
something the matter with you if you dont hate her because a normal
response to this kind of treatment would be hatred. Bitter hatred. And she
couldnt figure ... to say I hate her. So
after she wrote this letter that
came through with I hate her, I hate her, I hate her.
...

Summary and conclusion

Thus far, with brief and unable pen, I have been able to tell the story of how
it is possible to manufacture a multiple personality. The conditions
surrounding my ability to expose this case were entirely serendipitous. Had it
not been for a personal friendship with Flora Schreiber and Herb Spiegel,
none of this material would have surfaced. More specifically, the tapes that
Schreiber had given me would never have been looked at again if not for the
interview in New York Review of Books that Dr Spiegel participated in.
As to the question of whether or not the Sybil case was an out and out
fraud, that of course depends upon your personal definition of that term. No
matter what you wish to call it, it was a conscious misrepresentation of the
facts. The fine line between self-deception and deception of others is an
important issue here. Unquestionably, Schreiber and Wilbur wanted to make
Sybil a multiple personality case no matter what. This is clear when you
examine their response to Dr Spiegel that the publishers wanted a book on
multiple personality when Spiegel had already informed them she was just a
case of hysteria.
From my personal knowledge of Flora Schreiber, I am quite certain that
she had convinced herself that the story was true. As I said before, there is a
fine line between deception of self and deception of others. Once you start
making up a story to suit your own needs it can take on a life of its own. The
creator of Sybil more than likely suppressed a remembrance of how it began
once they got into the thick of it. Once it became a financial success there
was no turning back.
In the final analysis Sybil is a phony multiple personality case at best.
Furthermore, this tendency to go over the top and not know where to stop

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11

with multiple personalities will continue to

of those things we should be ashamed of.

persist until

we cease to

be proud

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