The Hmong people come from a mountainous region just south of China. Due to political unrest and in search of agricultural land, they migrated south. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall: A Hmong Child, His American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures is a 1997 book by Anne Fadiman that chronicles the struggles of a family of Hmong refugees from Laos, the Lees, and their interactions with health care systems in Merced, California. The stories focus on the family's second youngest and favorite daughter, Lia Lee, who, after several visits to the cramped and overcrowded county hospital, was diagnosed by doctors with a critical form of epilepsy. age of three. His parents, on the other hand, considered his illness qaug dab peg (“the spirit catches you and you fall”). This deceptively simple distinction is the reason for the cultural misunderstandings that plague Lia's care and is at the center of what The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down attempts to explore. Anne Fadiman argued that Lia's fate was not due to septic shock, noncompliant parents or medications, but to cultural misunderstanding. Lee's attempt to understand and be understood clearly highlights the challenges posed by differences in medical viewpoints, language barriers, and ignorance of cultural understanding. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Traditionally, the Hmong do not practice Western medicine and had not encountered it until they arrived in Thai refugee camps and became more exposed to its practice. in the United States. The Hmong practice spiritual healing and shamanic rituals, also known as neeb. These rituals use various tools such as sacred animals to please dabs (evil spirits) and musical tools like gongs and bells, holy water, chants and herbs, as well as other methods of traditional healing to find a person's lost soul. Western medicine does not practice these activities, and this is where the healing systems of Western doctors and the Hmong come to clash. The Hmong who live in Merced do not fully embrace Western medicine because it is very intrusive to them and can cause them to lose their soul. Anne Fadiman notes that practices such as anesthesia and repeated blood sampling can cause the soul to wander. Such practices can also cause various illnesses, death and the possibility of the person being physically incomplete, once reincarnated, as the body is essentially altered. This is why the Lees and other Hmong clans have such difficulty getting to the hospital and refuse to comply with the doctors' methods. In turn, MCMC doctors became frustrated and exhausted dealing with the Hmong while trying to save their lives. Neither side - the Hmong or the doctors - is able to break down cultural barriers and understand the opposing side, even if they both have good intentions. While doctors considered Lia's illness a simple birth injury, the Lees believed the illness was spiritual in nature. . Specifically, in this case of epilepsy, they believed that an evil spirit had grabbed Lia's soul, causing her to "fall." Doctors at MCMC barely understood the concept of spirits, which were part of epilepsy among the Hmong, but doctors considered the disease incurable. The language barrier and cultural differences between the Lees and the doctors at MCMC prevented the Lees from obtaining a diagnosis andprecise treatment of the patient. Communicating across cultures comes with a lot of challenges. Language can have many different meanings in a particular language that may not exist in another. In Lia's case, this language barrier of communication made it difficult for doctors to ask basic questions, including: where are you in pain, did you have a fever, and how long have you been in pain? The hospital did not have English-Hmongou translators for the bilingual Hmong employees who worked the night shift. Fadiman, describing the plight, says: "Last-minute emergency room doctors had no way to take a patient's medical history, or ask questions like 'Where is your pain?' ". Because of this language barrier, Lia's parents had no way of communicating important information, including the details of her seizures — or even the fact that she was having seizures. This is why doctors initially misdiagnosed her, presenting the symptoms as a "bronchial infection" instead of her actual diagnosis of epilepsy. A study by Rebeca R. Henry also shows how language barriers affected the way the Hmong viewed Western medicine. When asked about vaccinations their children received, Hmong parents said they did not remember or were not given explanations about vaccinations before the vaccine was administered at clinics. When asked what diseases vaccination prevented, parents either did not know or gave answers that indicated incorrect expectations about the effects of vaccination. For example, they described vaccinations as providing protection against “all diseases.” Some parents believed that “needle pricks” were a form of treatment for all illnesses. Due to poor communication between those administering vaccines and Hmong parents, the majority of Hmong parents have not made a connection between specific types of vaccinations and the specific diseases for which they are designed. The Hmong have difficulty accepting the reasoning behind illness, although they seek treatment. of Western medicine. They were exposed to “new” chronic illnesses that were outside the scope of a shaman’s practice. Their traditional theories and methods cannot explain or cure diseases. As a result, patients were more open to Western medical practices if the circumstances were outside the shamans' domain or if the shaman recommended treatment to help resolve the problem. Fadiman also mentions that by taking Hmong religious beliefs into account, some doctors were able to help their patients. Fadiman explains how California grants were used to “integrate mental health care delivery services using Hmong healers and Western mental health providers.” These grants were considered a huge success as shamans were enrolled in hospitals to help Hmong patients. With increasing immigration, it has become even more important to know and better understand one's own culture and that of other cultures around the world. MCMC doctors have shown that Americans need to be more sensitive to different cultures, even more so when it comes to cross-cultural medical treatments. Lia's fight has become a symbol for disabled children and immigrants afraid of Western medicine. Although she never spoke a word after the age of 4, Lia taught many doctors and nurses how to care for, 8(2), 161-177..1999.13.1.32