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Sybil Exposed
- The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case
- Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
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Publisher's summary
Journalist Debbie Nathan reveals the true story behind the famous case of Sybil, the woman with sixteen different personalities.
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- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
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Professor of psychiatry Elyn R. Saks writes about her struggle with schizophrenia in this unflinching account of her mental illness. In The Center Cannot Hold, Saks draws readers into a nightmare world of medications, a misguided health-care system, and social stigmas. But she would not be defeated. With a strength and force of will that most can only imagine, Saks reclaimed her life and went on to achieve great success.
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Schizophrenia Inside Out
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By: Elyn R. Saks
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Zelda Fitzgerald
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- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Zelda Fitzgerald was the mythical American Dream Girl of the Roaring Twenties who became, in the words of her husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, "the first American flapper." Their romance transformed a symbol of glamour and spectacle of the Jazz Age. When Zelda cracked up, not long after the stock market crash of 1929, Scott remained loyal to her through a nightmare of later breakdowns and final madness.
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The Beautiful and the Bungled
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By: Sally Cline
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Truth Doesn't Have a Side
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- By: Dr. Bennet Omalu, Mark Tabb, Will Smith - foreword
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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One day in 2002 the 50-year old body of former Pittsburgh Steeler and hall of famer Mike Webster was laid on a cold table in front of pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu. Webster's body looked to Omalu like the body of a much older man, and the circumstances of his behavior prior to his death were clouded in mystery. But when Omalu cut into Webster's brain, it appeared to be normal. Something didn't add up.
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Truly Enlightening
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The Gift of Adversity
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The noted research psychiatrist explores how life's disappointments and difficulties provide us with the lessons we need to become better, bigger, and more resilient human beings. Adversity is an irreducible fact of life. Although we can and should learn from all experiences, both positive and negative best-selling author Dr. Norman E. Rosenthal believes that adversity is by far the best teacher most of us will ever encounter.
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Book ruined by the narrator
- By David C. on 12-07-22
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The Unspeakable
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It's a report tempered by hard times. In "Matricide", Daum unflinchingly describes a parent's death and the uncomfortable emotions it provokes; and in "Diary of a Coma" she relates her own journey to the twilight of the mind. But Daum also operates in a comic register. With perfect precision, she reveals the absurdities of the marriage-industrial complex, of the New Age dating market, and of the peculiar habits of the young and digital.
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Complaining about her dead mom.
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By: Meghan Daum
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In The Voice Is All, Joyce Johnson - coauthor of the classic memoir Door Wide Open, about her relationship with Jack Kerouac - brilliantly peels away layers of the Kerouac legend to show how, caught between two cultures and two languages, he forged a voice to contain his dualities. Looking more deeply than previous biographers into how Kerouac's French Canadian background enriched his prose and gave him a unique outsider's vision of America, she tracks his development from boyhood through the phenomenal breakthroughs of 1951 that resulted in the composition of On the Road.
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Kerouac's Voice
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Oddly Normal
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Three years ago, John Schwartz, a national correspondent for the New York Times, got the call that every parent hopes never to receive: His 13-year-old son, Joe, was in the hospital following a suicide attempt. Mustering the courage to come out to his classmates, Joe had delivered a tirade about homophobic and sexist attitudes that was greeted with unease and confusion by his fellow students. Hours later, he took an overdose of pills.
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The Effect of Parental Caring
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Inside Scientology
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- By: Janet Reitman
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- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
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Scientology, created in 1954 by a prolific sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest-growing religion, with millions of members around the world and huge financial holdings. Its celebrity believers keep its profile high, and its teams of "volunteer ministers" offer aid at disaster sites such as Haiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a notably closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating the highest levels of government to further its goals.
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My cup of tea.
- By MWMcCabe on 08-09-11
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Because I Come from a Crazy Family
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- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
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When Edward M. Hallowell was 11, a voice out of nowhere told him he should become a psychiatrist. A mental health professional of the time would have called this psychosis. But young Edward (Ned) took it in stride, despite not quite knowing what "psychiatrist" meant. With a psychotic father, an alcoholic mother, an abusive stepfather, and two so-called learning disabilities of his own, Ned was accustomed to unpredictable behaviour from those around him and to a mind he felt he couldn't always control.
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Love and connection permeates through this book!
- By Steve Steinmetz on 06-29-18
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The Secret History of Wonder Woman
- By: Jill Lepore
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Like every other superhero, Wonder Woman has a secret identity. Unlike every other superhero, she has also has a secret history. Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore has uncovered an astonishing trove of documents, including the never-before-seen private papers of William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman's creator.
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Narration ruined it for me
- By Julia on 11-09-14
By: Jill Lepore
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What listeners say about Sybil Exposed
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- heather
- 06-29-24
my mind is blown
Sybil was the story that peaked my interest in abnormal psychology when I was young and the research presented here says it's all a lie. Loved the book, couldn't stop listening
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- James
- 10-01-13
Hmmmmmmm... Nah, I Won't Go There
Well, an interesting look into the world of multiple personalities, with the main character personality being, Sybil.
Was it real? Was it a hoax? Fascinating, that’s for sure!
The author, takes us back to over the last 100 years of treatment that was common in the United States at the time. The discussion is about various methods and treatments, medications, sexual deviance and multiple personalities.
This whole “cottage” industry sprung up and really took hold in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s at a time when women were “discovering themselves, but at the same time, were being misdiagnosed in many cases of multiple personality disorders.
Of course, many books, movies and plays became part of Western cultural folklore with all of this going on.
I've seen movies, read books about the subject in various forms and whatnot, but it’s good to see that this book was well written and exposed the whole Sybil case.
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- Abbey Harper
- 06-09-17
The Narrator was excellent
Would you try another book from Debbie Nathan and/or Marguerite Gavin?
I'm unsure if I would read another.
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
It was most interesting to hear how a psychotherapist destroyed a woman's life, tried to make herself a hero in the psychotherapy society, and then how the entire world ate it up. There was too much back story on the author of Sybil, Flora Rheta Schreiber, to make it interesting. I had to really push to get through the last 2 hours.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Audrey J T
- 08-23-17
Fascinating and educational
Very interesting book with solid research. Readers who questioned "so was it all a hoax?" after listening have missed the incredible depth and nuance of the story. I learned a lot about multiple personality disorder and gained a greater understanding of the mental health system.
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1 person found this helpful
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- serine
- 04-13-16
Bravo! A+ Book!
Once in a while, a book comes along that provides a jaw dropping moment in almost every chapter. This is one such book. Nathan's methods of research and the manner in which she dissects the myth of Sybil are so fantastic that I cannot help but hear Kelso's voice (from That '70s Show) saying, "Burn!" every time she chips away at another dearly held belief. The evidence presented is so solid it will destroy your previous notions. So many people fell in love with the story, the fragile but surprisingly strong heroin, the champion doctor, and the strange and wonderful things the human mind can do in the face of severe trauma. If you are are in love with that narrative and do not want it destroyed, in the strongest, juiciest, and most interesting way possible, don't read this book. Your ideals of Sybil and helpful Dr. Wilbur not survive.
How do you create a Sybil? Nathan can lay it out, step by step, for you. I enjoyed every page of this book. Nathan does a great job of sifting out fact from fiction (oh so much fiction). She fully understands what dissociation is and how it can be useful but also fully understands how it was exploited to provide a story that we all craved, one that satiated our need for novelty and oddity. Sybil was gaper porn. We got to see, or we thought we got to see, the most private, humiliating, and crazy parts of a mind destroyed before it triumphed once again. But what did we really see?
This sentiments in this book honor and respect the difficulties people encounter in life but warns how those difficulties can be compounded by those who "help," sometimes ensuring the patient sinks into something much deeper and darker. This is a story about human beings, belief, need, love, care, mistakes, greed, and so many other all-too-human feelings that muddy the waters of clarity.
I will never forget reading I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. I had the same romantic ideals about that book that I had about Sybil. I love when authors come along and destroy what people tend to hold sacred, and this author did it in the most delicious way! Bravo! A+
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4 people found this helpful
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- Kassiopia Jackson
- 08-28-20
An Impressive Look Into MPD/DID
I added this book to my library after binge watching a variety of YouTube videos from creators who allegedly have DID. My suspicion of the condition came from the "Alters caught on camera" videos as these videos seemed to perceive DID as a circus act. What began as a curious look into the life of the woman known to the world as 'Sybil' became an extensive look into how vanity destroyed the lives of many women. The ways in which many psycho-analyst treated their patients felt in a way like the YouTubers I watched portrayed themselves, like circus acts. Despite the horrific acts recalled in Sybil Exposed, Debbie Nathan did an excellent job gathering her sources and presenting the information in a neutral manner. Sybil Exposed is a great non-fiction novel and I would recommend it to everyone especially those who perceive themselves as mental health advocates.
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- Rose
- 09-21-19
Truthful and well researched
Provides insight to a time when psychiatric science was done poorly and egos got in the way. The story does start out slowly, as the author provides important background information.
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- Amy A
- 12-30-18
No definitive answer, just speculations all around
Nathan doesn't clearly assert with proof that Sybil (Shirley Mason) was NOT abused. Either she was or she wasn't. IF she was abused by her mother, then it is likely she could have very well had psychiatric issues, including multiples which required medication. Is Nathan asserting that Sybil (Shirley Mason) wasn't abused, and just had Pernicious Anemia or both? Nathan is quite the skeptic, but doesn't have adequate proof. She tries so hard to disprove Dr. Wilbur, that she overlooks that Sybil (Shirley Mason's) story could have very well been true, especailly as Shirley herself has said as much . We know Hollywood embellishes things, but I cannot believe the Sybil story was an out and out lie, based on the evidence Nathan presents which is mostly hearsay, third party and her personal interpretation of therapy session/notes.
In the end, she comes across as challenging Sybil (Shirley Mason)'s memories as no more than drug induced delusions, and that her main issue was her relationship with her Psychiatrist, Dr. Wilbur; however, she doesn't mention the actual Pediatrician's records or Sybil's mother's true mental health issues (not just physical). Nathan says things such as "how do we know?" (Instead of proving her theories).
It was a good read, but I am not convinced by Nathan's point of view that there wasn't real validity to Sybil (Shirley Mason's) story.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Nicole
- 05-09-13
SUCH A GOOD BOOK!!
Any additional comments?
I had previously read the Sybil book, and loved it, then come to find out it was a hoax, made me so upset that I had to know why and if any of the book was true. Amazing what really happened and puts a different perspective on certain people. Good read though!!!!
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- gswag
- 10-22-18
WOW!
Wow! it's all I can say about this review of an expose of a true hoax, which changed modern psychiatry/psychology for the worst. Science truly isn't everything.
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