Shirley Ardell Mason

Shirley Ardell Mason
Shirley Ardell Mason
Born	(1923-01-25)January 25, 1923 Dodge Center, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	February 26, 1998(1998-02-26) (aged 75) Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Sybil Isabel Dorsett
Occupation	Commercial artist
Known for	Having dissociative identity disorder

Shirley Ardell Mason (January 25, 1923 – February 26, 1998) was an American psychiatric patient and commercial artist who was reputed to have multiple personality disorder, now called dissociative identity disorder. Her life was purportedly described, with adaptations to protect her anonymity, in 1973 in the book Sybil, subtitled The True Story of a Woman Possessed by 16 Separate Personalities, and two films of the same name were made in 1976 and 2007. Both the book and the films used the name Sybil Isabel Dorsett to protect Mason's identity, though the 2007 remake stated Mason's name at its conclusion.

Mason was born and raised in Dodge Center, Minnesota, the only child of Walter Mason (a carpenter and architect) and Martha Alice "Mattie" Atkinson. In regard to Mason's mother: "...many people in Dodge Center say Mattie" — "Hattie" in the book — "was bizarre," according to Bettie Borst Christensen, who grew up across the street. "She had a witch-like laugh....She didn't laugh much, but when she did, it was like a screech." Christensen remembers Mason's mother walking around after dark, looking in the neighbors' windows. At one point, Martha Mason was reportedly diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Mason graduated from Dodge Center High School in 1941 and went on to become an art student at Mankato State College, now Minnesota State University, Mankato. In the early 1950s, Mason was a substitute teacher and a student at Columbia University. She had long suffered from blackouts and emotional breakdowns, and finally entered psychotherapy with Cornelia B. Wilbur, a Freudian psychiatrist. Their sessions together are the basis of the book. From 1968 to 1973, she taught art at Rio Grande College, in Rio Grande, Ohio (now the University of Rio Grande).