Some researchers attribute the increased prevalence of DID since 1976 to the movie Sybil, which claimed to portray the “true story” of a woman with DID. In a scene near the end of the movie, Sybil (played by Sally Field, lying down) and her psychiatrist (Joanne Woodward) work to “integrate” the different alters. In fact, it was later revealed that the real-life “Sybil” had been explicitly encouraged to give names to different aspects of her personality but did not actually dissociate, as her psychiatrist had claimed she did.

Courtesy Everett Collection