Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two

This account is a cross-cultural exploration of the Hmong population, originally from Laos, but now living in Merced County, California. It follows the case of Lia, a Hmong child with a progressive and unpredictable form of epilepsy, and maps out conflicts between Western medicine and holistic healing traditions of Hmong immigrants. Unable to enter the Laotian forest to find herbs that will “fix her spirit,” Lia’s family uses the Merced County emergency system, which has little understanding of Hmong animist traditions. The book holds lessons for caregivers on understanding and appreciating cultures different from the mainstream.