When the spirit catches you and you fall down.

 When the spirit catches you and you fall down is a book detailing the different views of the Hmong people towards medicinal care, and the American perspective of healthcare. The Hmong people believe that the origins of illness comes from spirits known as dab, while the Americans believe that illness comes from logical factors such as bacteria or genetic conditions. The book follows Lia, a young Hmong girl, and her immigrant family as they adapt to the American way of life while trying to preserve their cultural traditions, and dealing with Lia's medical diagnosis of epilepsy, and the Laos diagnosis of dab possession. The family rejoices, seizures are a simultaneous sign of possession, but can also allow her to become a shaman, a traditional healer who can see into the spirit world and cure diseases. These two opposing ideas are a way to compare different perspectives of health from a unique viewpoint, allowing us to make our own conclusions on how we define health and spiritual wellbeing.  

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