UK HealthCare

Artwork of Psychiatric Patient Known as "Sybil" Exhibited at UK Chandler Hospital

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 6, 2014) — In 1973, the best-selling book "Sybil" detailed the psychiatric case of artist Shirley Mason, who was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder. The story told by writer Flora Schreiber was later made into a made-for-TV movie starring actress Sally Field.

According to the book, which was based on taped interviews of psychotherapy sessions with Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, Mason was possessed by 16 different personalities as a coping mechanism for traumatic experiences. Mason, who was identified as "Sybil," suffered horrible abuse from her mother as a child.

Until she died of cancer in 1998, Mason lived out a quiet life in a house on Henry Clay Boulevard in Lexington. When family members were clearing out the house to sell, they came across more than 100 pieces of original artwork that Mason had locked away in her basement closet.

A collection of 40 pieces of artwork recovered from Mason's basement will be on display in the West Gallery of the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital later this month. Some of these original pieces are referenced in the 1973 book and reflect a diversity of style, themes and moods indicative of Mason's revolving personalities. The exhibit titled "Shirley Ann Mason" is owned by art collector Jim Ballard and was coordinated by the UK Arts in HealthCare program.

Ballard, who owned a framing business in the Chevy Chase neighborhood before moving to Florida, purchased more than 70 pieces of Mason's artwork at auction and contributed his work to the hospital exhibit. His fascination with the mysterious artist prompted him to read the book about her life, which gave him some ideas about which of Mason's alternate selves were responsible for each piece of artwork. Ballard said that the medium of chalk and use of pastel colors were connected to a young, innocent personality Mason referred to as "Peggy."

Ballard said Mason only sold and signed art that she recognized as her own. Mason reported to her psychiatrist blacking out for periods of time and returning to consciousness not recognizing artwork on her easel as her own. While Ballard acknowledges he's not a psychiatrist, he believes his varied collection is evidence that Mason took on several personalities while creating art.

"From talking to people and the doctors who study these things, I understand it's something that is put into a human being in the formative years," Ballard said of dissociative identity disorder. "A child confronts something so traumatic that they come up with a stronger or meaner self that can deal with it."

Wilbur, who helped Mason successfully integrate all her personalities during the 1950s, later joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Ed Maxwell, a psychiatrist and faculty member at UK, received his medical degree from UK and completed a psychiatric residency under Wilbur's supervision.

"Her style of relating to students and her teaching skills made a fairly significant number of medical students choose psychiatry as a profession," Maxwell said.

Maxwell said Wilbur's fascination with multiple personality disorder spread to other UK faculty members who conducted research on the condition. Wilbur encouraged her students and residents to undergo psychotherapy so they could better understand the perspective of their patients. Wilbur supported home visits to patients, especially in areas of rural Kentucky where psychiatric care wasn't available.

As a student of Wilbur's, Maxwell also learned how to diagnose and treat patients with dissociative identity disorder. Throughout his career, he has helped individuals manage multiple personalities and carry out functional lives. Maxwell said when "Sybil" was first published, Wilbur was hopeful the case would inform readers of the psychological effects caused by child abuse.

"It's one of these fascinating phenomena that piques people's interest," Maxwell said of Sybil's case. "Connie's mission was to emphasize the drastic consequences of child abuse, and also to show conditions like this are treatable." 

The exhibit will run through spring 2015 and is free and open to the public. 

MEDIA CONTACT: Elizabeth Adams, elizabethadams@uky.edu