Hmong struggle to overcome cultural barriers to mental health treatment

Programs | All Things Considered | MPR News Feature | Topics | Health | Religion | Special Collections | Hmong life in Minnesota | Types | Reports | Interviews | Grants | Legacy Amendment Digitization (2016-2017) | Social Issue | Legacy Project Work (2022-2023) |
August 27, 2001
Kaomi Goetz - Reporter, Mee Vang - Interviewee, Unknown - Speaker, Paul Reitman - Interviewee, Ilean Her - Interviewee
Listen: Hmong struggle to overcome cultural barriers to mental health treatment
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MPR’s Kaomi Goetz reports on how some Hmong face cultural hurdles to mental health care. A murder case of a Hmong immigrant that stabbed to death two of her children illustrates a larger problem confronting the Hmong community…how to recognize and effectively treat mental illness.

There is no word for mental illness in the Hmong language. What western science knows as mental illness, traditional Hmong religion Ua Dab says is a sign of an evil or unhappy spirit. When an evil spirit takes over the body of a person, a shaman is called in to appease or drive out the spirits.

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