Cornelia Wilbur

Focus was turned on the issues of multiple personalities and child abuse with the 1970s movie, "Sybil." The relationship between a troubled young woman, Sybil, and her therapist, Cornelia Wilbur, was the background for the story portrayed in the movie. The movie was a compression of the result of years of psychoanalysis by Dr. Wilbur to Sybil. Dr. Wilbur formed the theory that Sybil had created multiple personalities in her development in order to cope with the intense and traumatic child abuse she suffered growing up. Dr. Wilbur's work encouraged the American Psychiatric Association to seriously study multiple personality disorder. In 1980, as a result of the association's research, the disorder was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The DSM defines this disorder as being "characterized by two or more distinct identities that recurrently fake control of the individual while being accompanied by an extensive inability to recall important information." However, the disorder has recently been labeled Dissociative Identity Disorder.

After Sybil's final treatments, Cornelia Wilbur held a medical position in Psychiatry at the University of Kentucky where she conducted research on multiple personality, dissociation, and altered states of consciousness. Cornelia Wilbur died in 1992. At Dr. Wilbur's death, her notes, research, and personal papers were left in trust (for publication at a future date) to her personal friend, Dr. Leah Dickstein, presently affiliated with the University of Kentucky Louisville.

Wilbur, Cornelia. (1988). Multiple Personality Disorder and Transference. Dissociation: Progress in the dissociative disorders, 1(1), 73-76.

Wilbur, Cornelia. (1984). Multiple Personality and Child Abuse: An Overview. Psychiatric Clinic of North America 7(1), 3-7.

Wilbur, Cornelia. (1984). Treatment of Multiple Personality. Psychiatric Annals. 14(1), 27-31.

Wilbur. Cornelia. (1973). Sex Education. American Journal of Nursing 73(1), 88-91.