The Bifurcation of the Self

by Rieber, Robert W.; Rieber, R. W.

• ISBN13: 9780387274133
• ISBN10: 0387274138
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-03-31
• Publisher: Springer Verlag

Summary

For more than a hundred years, dissociative states, sometimes referred to as multiple personality disorder, have fascinated the public as well as scientists. The precise nature of this disorder is a controversial one, dividing clinicians, theorists, and researchers. Challenging the conventional wisdom on all sides, Robert Rieber's Bifurcation of the Self traces the clinical and social history of dissociation in a provocative examination of this widely debated phenomenon. At the core of this history is a trio of related evolutions'¬"hypnosis, concepts of identity, and dissociation'¬"beginning with nineteenth-century "hysterics" and culminating in the modern boom in Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) diagnoses and the parallel rise in childhood abuse/repressed memory cases. Rieber does not argue the non-existence of DID; rather he asserts that it is a rare disorder exaggerated by dissociation advocates and exploited by the media. In doing so, he takes on some of the most difficult questions in the field: - How crucial is memory to a person's identity? - Can two or more autonomous personalities actually exist in the same body? - If trauma causes dissociation, why aren't there more DID cases? - Why are DID cases prevalent in some eras but not in others? - Does dissociative disorder belong in the DSM? The book is rigorously illustrated with two centuries' worth of famous cases including Christine Beauchamp, Ansel Bourne, Eve Black/Eve White, and most notably the woman known as "Sybil", whose story is covered in depth with newly revealed manuscripts. And Rieber reviews the current state of DID-related controversy, from the professionals who feel that the condition is underreported to those who consider it a form of malingering, so that readers may draw their own conclusions.

Author Biography

Robert W. Rieber is Research Professor of Psychology at Fordham University and a member of the faculty of Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	1	(10)
I. A BRIEF HISTORY OF MULTIPLICITY
CHAPTER 1. THE ROOTS OF MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER/DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER	11	(20)
Seizures, Hysteria, and Dissociation: Making Sense of Mind and Brain	11	(3)
Early Case Histories: Looking for Ansel Bourne in All the Wrong Places	14	(4)
The Neurophysiology of the Inhibition-Excitation Continuum	18	(1)
Pierre Janet	19	(5)
F.W. Myers	24	(1)
Morton Prince	25	(2)
Boris Sidis	27	(2)
Conclusion	29	(2)
CHAPTER 2. "NOTHING BUT GOD AND THE BRAIN"	31	(12)
A Brief Look Back	31	(3)
Nothing but God and the Brain	34	(1)
What Did Gall Actually Believe	34	(3)
Faculties in the Brain: How Much Is Enough?	37	(6)
CHAPTER 3. PRYING OPEN THE LID: THE ORIGINS OF HYPNOSIS	43	(10)
Animal Magnetism and Its Links to MPD	43	(8)
Conclusion	51	(2)
CHAPTER 4. LOOKING INSIDE THE BOX, THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX	53	(14)
Freud and Hypnosis: Uncovering False Memories	53	(3)
The Free Association Technique	56	(2)
Overdetermination	58	(1)
Repression	59	(1)
Sexuality	60	(7)
II. SYBIL: A CASE OF MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES AND THE NATURAL HISTORY OF A MYTH
CHAPTER 5. THE CASE OF SYBIL: THE WILBUR/SCHRIEBER VERSION	67	(18)
CHAPTER 6. THE PUBLICATION OF A "PSYCHIATRIC MASTERPIECE"	85	(20)
Prelude to a Mystery	85	(1)
Publication of Sybil	86	(9)
The Aftermath	95	(1)
The Book and the Movie: A Comparison	95	(10)
CHAPTER 7. THE MYTH EXPLODES	105	(30)
The Multiplicity of Multiples	105	(2)
The Forgotten Tapes	107	(1)
Flora	108	(1)
An Analyst on Park Avenue	109	(1)
The Criminal Illusion of an Experimental Principle: The Primal Scene	110	(1)
The Trinity of Affinity	111	(1)
What Hypnosis Is—and Is Not	112	(6)
The Crucible of the Sixties	118	(3)
Highlights and the Implications of the Tape Recordings	121	(5)
The Reaction	126	(3)
Who Is Sybil and What Is She?	129	(1)
Conclusion	130	(5)
III: SEMINAL CASES OF MULTIPLICITY: A HISTORY
CHAPTER 8. FOURTEEN SEMINAL CASES	135	(48)
Mary Reynolds	135	(2)
Rachel Baker	137	(1)
Mollie Fancher	138	(2)
Ansel Bourne	140	(1)
Felida X	141	(2)
Marceline	143	(1)
Mary Beauchamp	144	(6)
Helene Smith	150	(1)
Thomas Hanna	151	(4)
Doris Fischer	155	(9)
Norma	164	(1)
John Charles Poultney	165	(6)
Bridey Murphy	171	(1)
Eve White/Chris Costner	172	(11)
CHAPTER 9. BIFURCATION OF SELF: RETROSPECTIVE AND PROSPECTIVE	183	(14)
REFERENCES	197	(6)
APPENDICES	203	(98)
1. Three Tape Excerpts	207	(78)
2. Excerpt from the TV movie Sybil	285	(4)
3. Sybil's Letter of Denial to Dr. Corneila Wilbur and Sybil's IQ Report	289	(8)
4. Schreiber's PR Bio and Dr. Ralph Allison's Letter	297	(4)
NAME INDEX	301	(2)
SUBJECT INDEX	303