He lives in Bali, Indonesia. He has an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He is particularly obsessed with glass. More precisely, broken glass.
He should break a cup and then write it down with a special notebook. He broke its exact time, hour, day, month and year, what type of glass it is. He carefully examined all of this information very carefully, and only when he was completely satisfied, he would close the notebook and take it away.
Recording broken glass is far from his only obsession. He must know the name of each person passing through his house. If he sees a dead chicken lying on the road, he must visit them and check them with the most subtle details. If he does not find the name of the person passing through his house, his obsession is so strong that he wants to commit suicide.
The terrible tragedy is that his condition is completely ignored, just like people with other mental illnesses. He worked for the government, but because of his disability, they did not receive any help.
There are the therapists he can go to. One of them told him that he was the victim of black magic. The cure is to give him a golden amulet, full of white magic, he must go through the purification ceremony. As can be expected, these treatments made him feel better.
Researchers are studying the impact of mental illness on people in other countries. For example, this man is suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder that is completely different from Americans. It is important to understand the culture of the patient you are treating.
If a local from Tonga enters the psychiatrist's waiting room, it is not a good thing for the doctor to treat him in the same way as he does to Westerners. Suppose the patient comes from a land where a demon seems to be supreme and omnipotent. For Westerners, this poor man seems to be a mentally ill person, but in his own country is completely normal, where he fights the real demons.
As I pointed out, obsessive-compulsive disorder varies from country to country. In the West, cleanliness seems to be a major problem, and in the Middle East, adherence to religious ceremonies is crucial. Another Western fear is that obsessive-compulsive patients will make some terrible sexual behavior. In fact, they need to protect themselves.
It is estimated that about 3 million Americans suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Victims of obsessive-compulsive disorder pass these “ceremonies”; repeatedly washing their hands, or hoarding useless items, mainly found in the West.
The key is to try to add the meaning of obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental illnesses from the West to other countries.
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