The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: Cultural Clash
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: Cultural Clash
This book focuses on the “clash” of cultures that occurs between the Lee family, immigrants to the US from Laos, and the doctors that treat their daughter, Lia, who has been diagnosed with epilepsy. Lia’s parents, Foua and Nao Kao believe that Lia has fallen ill because she has “lost her soul”.
This clash of ideas highlights one of the problems that the Lee’s faced when dealing with the medical community in the US – the Lee’s believed strongly that all of life is intertwined, and that each individuals soul is in constant danger, whether being stolen by “dabs”, or demons that steal souls, or your soul may simply “wander off like a butterfly”, as Foua says. If a Hmong loses their soul, that is when they get sick – and they only get well when they have recovered their soul. The Hmong make use of tvix neebs, or shaman, who are versed in the rescue of souls. The US medical community, on the other hand, relies on blood tests, surgery, and a barrage of specialized doctors to detect, diagnose, and fix medical conditions. Some of their methods, mostly invasive procedures, are thought of as disrespectful by the Hmong – One example that stood out to me was when Lia had her “big” seizure and was taken to the Valley Childrens hospital. She was in desperate need of “real” medical care, and the doctor she saw, Dr. Kopacz quickly proceeded giving her some heavy medication that put Lia in a state of more or less anesthesia. Lia’s father, Nao Kao, was angry with Doctor Kopacz, because he gave Lia alot of medications, and also recommended Lia get a spinal tap to check and see if the sepsis had passed into her spine, but did not consult with him beforehand. “They just took her to the hospital and they didn’t fix her. She got very sick and I think it is because they gave her too much medicine.” –Nao Kao
This is an exemplary example of the social construction of the ideas of health and illness (the US medical community vs.
This book focuses on the “clash” of cultures that occurs between the Lee family, immigrants to the US from Laos, and the doctors that treat their daughter, Lia, who has been diagnosed with epilepsy. Lia’s parents, Foua and Nao Kao believe that Lia has fallen ill because she has “lost her soul”.
This clash of ideas highlights one of the problems that the Lee’s faced when dealing with the medical community in the US – the Lee’s believed strongly that all of life is intertwined, and that each individuals soul is in constant danger, whether being stolen by “dabs”, or demons that steal souls, or your soul may simply “wander off like a butterfly”, as Foua says. If a Hmong loses their soul, that is when they get sick – and they only get well when they have recovered their soul. The Hmong make use of tvix neebs, or shaman, who are versed in the rescue of souls. The US medical community, on the other hand, relies on blood tests, surgery, and a barrage of specialized doctors to detect, diagnose, and fix medical conditions. Some of their methods, mostly invasive procedures, are thought of as disrespectful by the Hmong – One example that stood out to me was when Lia had her “big” seizure and was taken to the Valley Childrens hospital. She was in desperate need of “real” medical care, and the doctor she saw, Dr. Kopacz quickly proceeded giving her some heavy medication that put Lia in a state of more or less anesthesia. Lia’s father, Nao Kao, was angry with Doctor Kopacz, because he gave Lia alot of medications, and also recommended Lia get a spinal tap to check and see if the sepsis had passed into her spine, but did not consult with him beforehand. “They just took her to the hospital and they didn’t fix her. She got very sick and I think it is because they gave her too much medicine.” –Nao Kao
This is an exemplary example of the social construction of the ideas of health and illness (the US medical community vs.