December 11‚ 2012 Section 1: Who is the one to delineate fault for a miscommunication and misunderstanding between two cultures? In Anne Fadiman’s novel‚ The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down‚ she begins the novel as an attempt to allocate responsibility for the mistreatment and exacerbation of Lia Lee’s epilepsy. The tension between the Hmong and United States medical culture exemplified the strain in America between a foreign culture dependent on rituals and society’s norm. As the novel progress
Free Culture Cross-cultural communication
Final Paper: “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” By: Anne Fadiman Meghan Maloney 26 April 2013 To understand the struggles that the Hmong people face living in America it is important to understand where they come from and what they have gone through. The majority of the Hmong people originate from the mountainous country of Laos. The mountains created isolation from the neighboring cultures and cultivated a clan identity. They were part of a society where everyone worked together
Premium Culture Medicine Hmong people
You Have a Friend in Me Everyone has friends but every friend is different. You have your friends with families‚ the “let’s go out every night” friends‚ and last but not least‚ your long distant friends. Yes they are all friends but each one lives a different life style and has their own unique personality. They have a special place in your heart through thick and thin. Friends are loving‚ caring‚ loyal‚ and honest. Friend’s seal your deepest darkest secret with a “pinky swear” and a hug. Which
Premium Friendship Interpersonal relationship
Counseling The Culturally Diverse THE SPIRIT CATCHES YOU AND YOU FALL DOWN By: Yvette Bradley Professor: Dr. K. Doka The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by: Anne Fadiman In the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down starts with the traditional nurturing of the Hmong people. The most significant tradition is the burying of the placenta. The Hmong people believe that the placenta must be purposefully buried in a particular spot under the dwelling of the Hmong’s between
Premium Religion Hmong people Culture
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Being culturally competent is essential in caring for the lives of others. As a nurse you will be caring for individuals and families who may or may not have the same beliefs and values and yourself. Despite the differences the nurse must be able to ask the appropriate questions‚ seek out tools that are going to help the client and family understand the importance of their care‚ and feel comfortable when
Premium Medicine Culture Physician
1. The traditional Hmong birth practices are so different from the birth practices we use here in the United States. Foua’s previous child births before Lia were very different. She gave birth inside her home‚ with completely no help. She also cut and tied the umbilical cord with a string. Afterwards they buried the placentas as a tradition to their beliefs. Now‚ with Lia’s birth she was in a public hospital where she was attended by doctors and given medicine. It was also sanitary there‚ unlike
Premium Physician
Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Journal #2 In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down‚ by Anne Fadiman‚ Lia Lee is a very sickly child‚ and is now unfortunately a “vegetable.” Much to the hospitals chagrin‚ they in fact are the reason why Lia is in a comatose state. The Lee’s argued with the doctors throughout Lia’s entire 4 years of medical strife with epilepsy about the medication and the way they were treating Lia. Fadiman juxtaposes the differences of the Hmong way of healing people:
Premium Soul Life Spirit
1.)The Merced Hospital Staff believed Lia suffered from Epilepsy. They believed it translated into Qaug dab peg. What was misunderstood is that quag dab peg were not really perceived as the same thing in Hmong culture as Epilepsy is in western medicine. In the Hmong culture‚ QDP is believed to be caused by a bad spirit called a dab. It is believed that dabs are responsible for stealing souls and making its victims sick. Epilepsy is recognized by western medicine as a serious neurological condition
Premium Medicine Physician Neurology
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
Premium Hmong people
The story begun when I came to this school in Form 1. I have no friends and I’m afraid with new surrounding. I checked my name on the board. I was into class 1 inisiatif. When I got into the class‚ everyone stared at me. I don’t know whats going on. So I just take a seat and keep calmed. A few months later‚ I had to move to class 1 cendekia. I have my old friends there. But she’s not my closest friend. Everyone does not care about me. Nobody want to ask me anything. Maybe I’m too shy to meet
Premium Friendship Interpersonal relationship