The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Cross-Cultural Family Assessment
Stephanie Boardman
University of Southern Maine
1. The client system, in this case the Lee family, defines Lia’s seizures as both a spiritual and physical ailment. According to Fadiman (1997), “…the noise of the door had been so profoundly frightening that her soul had fled her body and become lost. They recognized the resulting symptoms as qaug dab peg, which means ‘the spirit catches you and you fall down’”(p.20). To the Lee family, Lia’s condition was as revered as it was frightening. While a person with qaug dab peg was traditionally held in high esteem in the Hmong culture, it was also terrifying enough that the Lee’s rushed Lia to the emergency room more than once in the first few months of her life. 2. While the Lees recognized that Lia had an illness, I do not believe that they recognized the severity of her problems. One the one hand, the understood that it was a dangerous illness, but on the other hand, the Hmong believed that qaug dab peg “singles him out as a person of consequence” (Fadiman, 1997, p. 21). At times, the Lees believed that Lia’s epilepsy wasn’t as much of a medical problem as a gift. Fadiman tells us, “They therefore hoped, at least most of the time, that the qaug dab peg could be healed” (p. 22). So while they recognized that Lia was sick, they also had hope that she could be cured. Their hope was that if the spirits decided to keep hold of Lia, that long-term she would become a Tvix neeb, a “person with a healing spirit” (as cited in Fadiman, 1997, p. 21). If she did not become a Tvix neeb, then their hope was that the sickness would be short-term. It seems that either way, they had no idea what the future held for Lia. They could only hope for the best. 3. Fadiman does not tell us what the Lees did the first time Lia had a seizure. She does tell us that the Lees brought Lia to the emergency room for the first time on October 24, 1982 when she was only three months old
Stephanie Boardman
University of Southern Maine
1. The client system, in this case the Lee family, defines Lia’s seizures as both a spiritual and physical ailment. According to Fadiman (1997), “…the noise of the door had been so profoundly frightening that her soul had fled her body and become lost. They recognized the resulting symptoms as qaug dab peg, which means ‘the spirit catches you and you fall down’”(p.20). To the Lee family, Lia’s condition was as revered as it was frightening. While a person with qaug dab peg was traditionally held in high esteem in the Hmong culture, it was also terrifying enough that the Lee’s rushed Lia to the emergency room more than once in the first few months of her life. 2. While the Lees recognized that Lia had an illness, I do not believe that they recognized the severity of her problems. One the one hand, the understood that it was a dangerous illness, but on the other hand, the Hmong believed that qaug dab peg “singles him out as a person of consequence” (Fadiman, 1997, p. 21). At times, the Lees believed that Lia’s epilepsy wasn’t as much of a medical problem as a gift. Fadiman tells us, “They therefore hoped, at least most of the time, that the qaug dab peg could be healed” (p. 22). So while they recognized that Lia was sick, they also had hope that she could be cured. Their hope was that if the spirits decided to keep hold of Lia, that long-term she would become a Tvix neeb, a “person with a healing spirit” (as cited in Fadiman, 1997, p. 21). If she did not become a Tvix neeb, then their hope was that the sickness would be short-term. It seems that either way, they had no idea what the future held for Lia. They could only hope for the best. 3. Fadiman does not tell us what the Lees did the first time Lia had a seizure. She does tell us that the Lees brought Lia to the emergency room for the first time on October 24, 1982 when she was only three months old