The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down

The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down

Thesis Statement

Do we medical professionals as Americans allow cultural understanding as part of our medical treatment in the U.S?

Introduction

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman (1997) demonstrate how when it comes to biomedicine two vastly different cultures are likely to clash. In the ethnography, Dr. Neil Ernst explained his reasoning for placing Lia Lee in foster care when on page 79 he explained that he felt that Lia's doctors understood her condition and how to treat it better than her parents. Also, he expresses, that her parents should have to do what the doctors thought was best. It would be deemed unacceptable behavior if they deviated from the doctors' orders. Lia Lee's parents hardly understood her doctors or followed their orders. Because of the Lee's lack of understanding and cooperation it was decided that she should be put into foster care. I agree with Dr. Neil Ernst's second claim that biomedical doctors knew what is in the best interest for Lia Lee, however I disagree with his first claim that biomedicine is the only thing that can help her (Fadiman, 1997).

Discussion

Hmong Culture

The Hmong people have their own way of helping Lia that she could benefit from, yet it is not the only treatment she needs. If Lia was cared for in the way the doctors wanted her illness may not have progressed so greatly and the outcome of her illness could have been much less severe. With the right combination of Hmong treatments and western biomedicine Lia could have controlled her disease. Lia could of very possibly of been saved with a balance of cooperation and understanding between her parents and doctors. In regards to disagreeing with Dr. Neil Ernst's claims that biomedicine is the only reasonable treatment, I must point out that biomedicine only treats the body. The body is not always the most important factor to certain cultures. To the Hmong people spirit is important to treat, after all her culture considered her illness soul loss. They believed she suffered from quag dab peg meaning the spirit catches you and you fall down. This sickness is caused from the spirit being scared out of her body and captured by an evil spirit. Quag dab peg requires treatment of the spirit, not only the body. The Lee's Hmong culture and its way of dealing with illnesses should have been put into more consideration while caring for Lia instead of being deemed as useless to the doctors. If the two cultures would have learned to work together better a lot of the misunderstandings involved could have been avoided (William, 1998).

Treatment

Lia's parents Nao Kao and Foua Lee cared for their daughter as best they could. That is undeniable. Although they wanted to help their daughter while she was struggling with her illness there was far too much they simply didn't understand about biomedicine to properly care for ...