Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is one of the most talked about and publicized disorders known and is the center of much debate and criticism. The past two decades have shown an increase in the number of cases of MPD but there are many professionals that are skeptical about whether it even exists. MPD and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) are related with some variations the two. Multiple personalities are rare, but "Evidence of multiple personality is not a new development of the twentieth century. In fact, evidence of multiple personality is said to exist in the images of shamans changed into animal forms or embodying spirits in Paleolithic cave paintings"[Put89]. Treatment for MPD or DID has raised much controversy over if the disorder actually exists or if it is caused by the therapist in the way they use hypnosis to find out the cause. Exploring the movie Sybil, both versions the 1974 and the 2007, gave insight to the disorder and the treatment. .
The movie Sybil is based on a true story of a college student that after multiple blackouts and a cut hand she found herself in the hospital being treated by a doctor that recommended a psych evaluation. Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, a psychiatrist was assigned to her case and found Sybil talking in a baby voice. At first glance, Dr. Wilbur did not see anything that was abnormal, until she starts treating Sybil in her office and finds that she was not making any sense with the conversation that they were having. She goes between facts that her mother was good and she was not very close to she got to know her when she was sick. The 2007 movie of Sybil went into more detail than the original mini-series made for TV version of Sybil. Between both of the movies they both agreed that Sybil was seriously messed up. She had suffered abuse that was so severe as a child that in order to protect herself, she created 16 different personalities to cope.