Anyone read "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down"?

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In this book, do you think that the practice or the people of Western Medicine let down the Lee family? What are your thoughts on this book?

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I am seeking infinite wisdom from nursing educators here...Do you think in this book that the people or the practice of western medicine let down the Lee family? What are your perceptions of the book and the way we practice medicine?

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In this book, do you think that the practice or the people of Western Medicine let down the Lee family? Give me your thoughts on this great book

I don't really think that western medicine let the family down as much as it was a cultural catastrophe; the beliefs of the family were as real and as intrenched as ours-they could no more accept, completely, the western treatment and comply as we would be likley to follow their beliefs of live sacrifice and possession. I don't know more could of been done gven the time, place and situation, other than to continue to keep the girl out of the home. Mistakes were made to be sure, but I don't think that the outcome would of been too different if they hadn't been made; the family was completely incapable of complying with treatment basically due to their culture,faith, beliefs.fears. I'm not blaming them or the healthcare providers; it was just too big a gulf to be crossed sucessfully and in time to help this child. I found it a very frustrating situation. The part that sticks with me is at the end where the mother has to strap this big kid to her like a baby or a toddler, and she basically says that sometimes she wishes that she could have a life like her friends do, and not have the burden of this complete care child; a very honest and painful admission, and some things do blur the cultural divide.

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Specializes in Emergency.

i am interested in this book, please provide the author, thanks. jen

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Specializes in NICU.
i am interested in this book, please provide the author, thanks. jen

The author is Anne Fadiman. I agree with the poster above TinyNurse that no one let anyone down, it was just a really, really horrible situation that I'm not sure there was a solution to. I actually didn't care for the book. I don't like feeling manipulated by an author, and that's how I felt reading it. I actually skipped the lecture where we discussed it bc I was really angry immediately after reading it. I've calmed down a bit since then, but I still think the author was telling me how I should feel and I don't appreciate that.

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Why do you feel that the author is manipulative? Any certain ideas that she had to make you feel this way? It did seem that she praised the Hmong cultures over western med., that is what ticked me off. Yes, one of those meds could have made her go into septic shock, however if she were back in Laos...she would have definitely been dead a lot sooner.

Let's face it, beating a drum and castrating a pig dosn't cure...medicine and compliance does..that is my 2 cents!

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The author is Anne Fadiman. I agree with the poster above TinyNurse that no one let anyone down, it was just a really, really horrible situation that I'm not sure there was a solution to. I actually didn't care for the book. I don't like feeling manipulated by an author, and that's how I felt reading it. I actually skipped the lecture where we discussed it bc I was really angry immediately after reading it. I've calmed down a bit since then, but I still think the author was telling me how I should feel and I don't appreciate that.

I felt the same way about the author-you knew her opinion as you read the book. I think the word "manipulate" is an excellent choice...She had an opinion that she felt was the factual truth and wanted to make sure that you believed it as well.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.
The author is Anne Fadiman. I agree with the poster above TinyNurse that no one let anyone down, it was just a really, really horrible situation that I'm not sure there was a solution to. I actually didn't care for the book. I don't like feeling manipulated by an author, and that's how I felt reading it. I actually skipped the lecture where we discussed it bc I was really angry immediately after reading it. I've calmed down a bit since then, but I still think the author was telling me how I should feel and I don't appreciate that.

I would agree with this assessment also. I didn't get angry and I did learn a lot about the Vietnam war, things of which I was not aware. But it's clear that Anne Fadiman almost worshipped the Hmong people and clearly believed it was the medical systems fault for what happened to Lia. She seemed to attribute what happened to her as solely a failure of western medicine to communicate with, connect with, and understand her culture. What Anne Fadiman doesn't know is that there is a Lia in every culture. I have had patients with complicated disease processes and complicated social dynamics in every culture including good ole American-born, English speaking, middle class White people. Those of us who work med-surg all know a patient who is that frequent flier, who never seems to get their medication or treatment regimen right, who is noncompliant, who has a complicated disease process. And don't get me wrong, I was rooting for Lia and her family all the way. I felt particularly sad for the sister who was blamed for causing the epilepsy by slamming a door.

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Specializes in Medical.

I don't know whether Fadiman' writing was unfairly biased in favour of the Hmong perspective, or if she was deliberately trying to counter a Western bias that she (and the majority of her readers - me among them) would already have.

I finished the book feeling sad and frustrated, in no small part because it did seem that everyone was doing what they genuinely thought was in Lia's best interests.

I recommend the book to my medical students if they argue that culture isn't relevant to their studies.

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Specializes in tele, stepdown/PCU, med/surg.

Anyone have recommendations of other books that are shocking, make you feel sad, pensive, and/or challenge everything you believe in regarding healthcare, medicine, culture, and life? I would love to read more!

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Anyone have recommendations of other books that are shocking, make you feel sad, pensive, and/or challenge everything you believe in regarding healthcare, medicine, culture, and life? I would love to read more!

One book I read that isn't really what you are asking for, but incredibly interesting, eye-opening and myth dispelling is "Nightingales"-it's about Florence Nightingale and her family-Wow; talk about the truth is stranger than fiction; Florence Nightingale and her family would of kept a gaggle of pyschiatrists busy for very very long time. FN was nothing like the myth of the "lady with the lamp" as she is portrayed. A couple of things in the book made me kind of sad-FN's abject self-hate, that culture then repressed her so much, and that the author argues a little too vehemently that FN was not gay (who cares?).

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