Experience Event: Sybil

On Wednesday November 18, I attended an experience event, presented by Psi Chi, in which they showed the film Sybil. This movie was made in 1976 and is based off a true story about a woman that suffers from dissociative identity disorder. The reasoning behind this disorder was that the main character, Sybil, suffered from psychological trauma from when she was a child. The film shows how one psychiatrist helps her remember what happened to her when she was little and to battle this disorder. The film also documents the different "personalities" that Sybil suffers from.

Because this film was originally a television series, the film was over two hours long. However, during the whole movie, the students were able to learn about Sybil and her disorder. I felt as if I was learning about her disorder as the character was. In the end, all of her "identities" come out and it is said that Sybil is now in peace. After the movie, the Psychology Honor Society, Psi Chi, held a discussion session about the movie. Here, the students discussed whether or not dissociative identity disorder is or is it just made up. The students were also able to discuss the symptoms and how this disorder is caused.

It was very interesting hearing Psi Chi talk about this disorder because I am not a psychology major. I thought this was a great experience event because it taught me about a very important disorder that is caused by childhood trauma. Although this experience event was around two and half hours long, it was worth it.