Summary Of The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down By Anne Fadiman

The medical field in relation to varied cultural beliefs and traditions is something that is important to many, yet rarely talked about by almost all individuals. In other words, the cultural clashes created in medicalization is under looked by a multitude individuals. This is because many do not experience the hardships first hand. For that reason, the thought of difficulties within treatments of health issues or illnesses does not cross some individual’s minds. Nonetheless, each group of people is unique, in addition to, how they perceive the medical world. With this uniqueness comes many groups of people who struggle to understand other culture’s beliefs and their knowledge on health and illness. The lack of knowledge an individual has pertaining

This makes it more difficult to openly trust and learn about each other’s language, culture, and traditional beliefs. A book titled “The Spirit Catches you and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman, an American essayist and reporter, explains the story of a Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of the two cultures. A section in this book explained some of the views Hmong individuals have about Western medicine. Fadiman explained that with the little contact Hmongs have with the Western medicine they were turned off by the constant questions, the procedures doctors used, the inability to identify the cause, and stated that “when the doctors failed to heal, it was their own fault” (Fadiman 33). This section of the book demonstrates that the Hmong did not understand the reasoning behind a doctors procedures, and did not trust them except for a last resort. If the Hmong and American doctors were able to communicate and each understand each other, then these would not be threats against the Hmongs beliefs, but rather, legitimate treatments to aid in the healing of a family member. For this reason, individuals should understand that the world is filled with diversity. To co-exist with the large diversity of languages and cultures, one must appreciate the separate beliefs and traditions especially when it comes to

Especially between the American, Western medicine and the Hmong. Many Americans have grown up learning to trust medicine, the doctors word, and the treatment prescribed. Almost anything considered a health issue or illness is consulted with a doctor and generally medications are prescribed to help the problem. These doctors also understand that the cause of these health issues is due to biological factors within the individual. This means that it is one’s genes, alleles, body fluids, or bacteria is causing the problem. This is not the case for other cultures, in addition to, the