Navajo Healing Treatment

There are many negative stigmas in regards to seeking treatment for mental illness. Is it possible that people around the world choose to not seek treatment due to these stigmas? Or does one’s cultural beliefs keep them from seeking treatment as well? Negative attitudes and beliefs toward people who have a mental health condition is common in America and countries around the globe. The stigma does not only pertain to the people who suffer from the mental illness but those who provide the treatment as well. Psychiatry is criticized for it’s a medicalization of normal behavior. As well as its lack of cultural competency ultimately leading to misdiagnosis of minority patients. With the recent change in global demographics,

A common theme that has been discussed regarding the adversities that immigrants experience when arriving to the America are the social and cultural clashes between immigrants and citizens. What I find interesting is the conflicts pertaining to the health care system. Based on previous lectures, immigrants tend to mistrust the American healthcare system due to difference in medical remedies and the language spoken. I know first hand that my mother would perfer to have a Ghanaian physician, as opposed to the general white American doctor. Anne Fadiman wrote a successful award-winning book called, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, which highlights how the cultural differences between the Hmong culture and American medicine jeopardized the health of a little girl named Lia Lee. The story brings into light the topic of Medical anthropology, which is the study of medical systems, healing practices, and views on health from different cultures.

Locura is a culture bound syndrome that affects Latin Americans and Hispanics, regardless of where they are born, in the United States or South America (Jilek 2001:5,9). Locura has also been documented in immigrants from the Caribbean Islands (Razzouk 2011:517). In Columbia, Locura is also known as “ataques de locura” madness attacks, it is attributed to a spell known as “maleficio”. Locura is commonly associated with other culture bound syndromes thru out Central and South America, such as ataques de nervious (nervios) and possession syndromes (Piñeros 1998:1425).

The medicine is still a useful concept in Aboriginal healing and many First Nations bands including the Plains Cree people of Thunderchild First Nation support the concept of the traditional teachings of the Medicine Wheel (Graham & Leesberg, 2010). Also Etowa, Jesty, & Vukic (2011), indicated that Aboriginal people have a holistic definition of health that involves a balance of emotional, mental, spiritual and emotional health which has its origins in the medicine wheel and that cultural traditions such as sweat lodges, talking circles, drumming circles, and smudging are crucial elements of healing and empowerment. The medicine wheel is used as a tool to emphasize the need for bal¬ance between these dimensions of life, as well as the holistic

In the book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman explores the cultural collision between the Hmong Lee family and their American doctors. Along with the culture clash, the social stigma against the Hmong family brings to light a lot of the systematic, moral, and ethical issues that can arise in our healthcare. Ultimately, the combination of the cultural clash in medical perspectives, the underlying social stigma, the inadequate treatment, and the miscommunication hindered the proper diagnosis and recovery of led to the demise of the Hmong child. However, many of the problems could have been easily avoided or resolved with more patience, objectivity, and most importantly, cultural competence. Cross-cultural methods and approaches should be taken to accommodate for the diverse patient population in our communities.

The continuing issue of social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, is one that needs to be addressed in order to raise struggling health outcomes that compromise the lives of Aboriginal people. This is underlined by the fact that suicide, in 2014, was found to be the fifth leading cause of death in Indigenous populations, as well as one of the significant factors leading to a high life expectancy gap (ATSISPEP, 2016). It was also found that compared to the non-Indigenous Australian rate of suicide, Aboriginal people were twice more likely to attempt to end their life (Department of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, 2017), which has consequently lead to the creation of policies and recommendations

Brave Heart, Maria Yellow Horse, et al. “Historical Trauma Among Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: Concepts, Research, and Clinical Considerations.” Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, vol. 43, no. 4, 2011, pp. 282-290.

Today’s society consist of a variety of different cultures. Each cultures has their own identity, customs, and beliefs. In my community we have several strong, family oriented cultures. The two that were chosen was the Hispanics community and the Haliwa-Saponi Native American community. It was very interesting to see that while this communities are different they share some strong similarities, such as family ties.

Americans are often not aware of what is going on outside of the United States; however, just as third-world countries suffer from a lack of necessities, so does our own nation. What has recently been brought to the author 's attention that she is now putting on the table – what is occurring in the Navajo Nation? The beautiful and vast Navajo Nation “extends into the states of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, covering over 27,000 square miles” (Navajo Nation 's DIT). F1.

I became very sure of my quest to become a public health professional during my National youth service Corps (NYSC) year in my home country Nigeria. I had the opportunity of working as a medical officer in the very remote village healthcare setting. During my service year with the NYSC, I discovered that minor ailments, usually from infections, and some with fatal consequences, could have been prevented and many lives saved if it were not for the fact that those effected believed that the illnesses were evil spiritual afflictions or resulted from a curse by God. I was especially struck by the sight of a young child at the Children's emmergency ward with severe heel burns resulting from the superstitious belief that febrile convulsion was caused

In a healthcare setting you will see different cultures that will come and go. It is very important to know how to deal with each culture so that you can help them while still making sure they are comfortable. Native Americans have many different characteristics because of the different tribes from all over the world. Healthcare providers should be familiar with them so they know how to distinguish them if needed. While knowing their characteristics they should also know how to interact with Native Americans as well since their culture is a lot different than ours, we want to make sure that we don’t disrespect them. Our healthcare providers would impact Native Americans and healthcare by showing them that we respect them and want to be there to help them anyways that we can so

The colonization of Indigenous peoples has dramatically affected their health, and health-seeking behaviours, in a myriad of ways. The Indian Act of 1876 was, in essence, created to control the Indigenous population. The Indian Act laid out laws and regulations that tightly regulated the lives of natives economically, ideologically, and politically. This included a wealth of ways in which their identities were stripped away, and in which they were taken advantage of by the Government of Canada. This has resulted in a reduced quality of life for Canada 's indigenous population, as well as adverse health problems, and prejudicial perceptions that we still see the impact of today. The documentary series, 8th fire, by Dando and Ingles (2012) supports this claim. The Indigenous peoples ' have long felt betrayed by the government that they had signed a treaty with, so why would an Indigenous person seek health services from this establishment? The mistrust between the Indigenous peoples and the Government of Canada is the result of colonization, specifically the Indian Act, and it undoubtedly impacts Indigenous peoples and their faith in, and ability to get proper care from, the healthcare system.

‘The spirit catches you and you fall down’ was published in 2012 by essayist and reporter Anne Fadiman. This introductory book review analyzes the way in which different cultures perceive illnesses and diseases. It focuses on the story of the Lees a Hmong family, who moved to the United States and experiences difficulties with language, culture and biomedicine method of healing, which contradict to Hmong’s way of healing. The chapters describe the differences between the ways childbirth is conducted in Hmong society compared to the western society. As well as the struggle the Lees family has with the cultural differences in diagnoses and treatment of their ill daughter. This methodology used in Anne Fadiman book involves real life events being

Several chapters in this book are devoted to Hmong’s history, cosmology and the multiple challenges they have faced while trying to settle in the United States. According to Fox (2005), Western medicine is a more reliable and effective way of curing diseases as compared to the traditional, and old-fashioned cultural methods, such as sacrificing pigs and chicken as depicted by the Hmong Lee family. I think that a better and more profound understanding of diverse cultures and their beliefs will play a key role in enabling Western doctors to overcome cultural resistance towards science. Consequently, they will have a more cooperative attitude towards the patients, which will likely change the ancient beliefs as held by some patients. Besides, the societies should not fully trust the cultural healing modalities. Instead, they should learn to adopt modern healing practices by accepting western

They believe everything is sacred and has a purpose. Religious ceremonies were a large part of their lives. Rituals included dancing, healing, and pow-wows. Rituals may include the entire tribe, or would specific to men, women, or even families. Dances were held for healing, prayer, initiation, storytelling, and courting. Dances usually occurred in a large structure, such as a wigwam, or in an open field around a fire. A common dance was the ghost dance. It was a spiritual movement that gave hope to the Native Americans when conditions were rough on Indian reservations. It was claimed, the dance would bring about the renewal of the Native American society. They would dance in a circular pattern, which was believed to induce a state of religious ecstasy. Healing ceremonies brought participants into harmony with themselves, their tribe, and their environment. Plants and herbs were commonly used to create a connection between the spirits and the afterlife. Sage and tobacco were the most commonly used herbs during the ceremonies. Sage was used to smudge the wigwam before any healing began. It was believed the smoke opened the soul for the spirits and their healing powers. Native Americans smoked pure tobacco believing it helped heal pain, fever, toothache, vertigo, and even tuberculosis. But most ceremonies were focused on healing the person than curing the disease. The practice of taking hallucinogens was commonly used in the Native American culture. It was believed to help them gain greater insight or communicate with the gods. Many of these ceremonies had a leader. In place of priests, there were shaman and medicine men. These men were sometimes said to communicate with the gods and spirits in the afterlife. They were wise and held important roles in decisions and ceremonies. Medicine men were able to help people repair the damage done to their spirits and mind and bodies. Medicine men