A visitor might find that Balinese people are outgoing and accommodating, but the culture has a dark side. In a controversial and sometimes criticized essay, the anthropologist Margaret Mead called Balinese culture one based on fear—fear of inadvertent insult and unspoken offense. Much the way fear of contamination in the West or of religious impropriety in Islamic cultures become exaggerated and distorted through the lens of obsessive-compulsive disorder, I think the possibility of danger from simple social interactions drives the behavior of Balinese with OCD.
It's a fear that takes a heavy toll. If Gede Sudiasih, the man with the notebook devoted to broken glass, sees people from outside his village, he will rush outside and stop them—not to drive them away, but to find out who they are, where they live and what they are doing in his village. If he can't catch them, he will begin interrogating his neighbors, driven by a compulsion to find out basic information on the strangers. Until Gede can get the information he craves, he is filled with a powerful dread. To avoid spotting a stranger, any stranger, Gede keeps his windows covered with heavy blinds. He essentially shuts out the world. It is a sad testament to the power of his obsessions. And to the culture that shapes them.
Read More About It
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Of Spirits and Madness: An American Psychiatrist in Africa Paul Linde, M.D. (McGraw-Hill, 2000)
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The Thread of Life: Toraja Reflections on the Life Cycle D. Hollan and J.C. Wellenkamp (University of Hawaii Press, 1996)
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