Shamanic and Biomedical Practices†Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Shamanic and Biomedical Practices. Answer: Introduction Anthropology reveals the many complex and variant ways in which culture influences our lives and daily experiences. Peoples ways of living and experiences depend greatly on the differing cultural outline (Diener, Kahneman Helliwell, 2010). However, various elements are shared across the societal and geographical boundaries. These features include suffering as well as an illness which is universal human experiences. These experiences are endowed with an enormous variety of cultural interpretations and meanings. The practices of healing, as well as the methods to treat diseases and various illnesses, are the foundation of the trans-global medicine. The practices and techniques are entwined in the social, political, economic and also the philosophical understandings and also the practices of a particular culture. Due to colonization and spread of western civilization, the biomedicine of the West has become the dominant model that people use to comprehend the illnesses and seek the need ed medical attention (Lupton, 2012). The scientific approach to the western medicine make it objective and lacks cultural foundation. Therefore, this has led to the cultural clash between the biomedical and shamanic practices (Lock Nguyen, 2010). Each of the healing cultures always regards their cultural practices as rational and the others practices as irrational hence leading to ethnocentrism. This article will use various ethnographic books and articles to portray the clash between the shamanic and biomedical practices. The book of interest is The Spirit Catches You and You fall as well as other scholarly anthropology sources that show the clash between the shamanic and biomedical practices. The clash between the shamanic and biomedical practices has led to many unwanted adverse effects which include suffering as well as death (Joralemon, 2015). Therefore, there has been efforts to integrate the shamanic and the biomedical practices to come up with a better approach that is acceptable in various cultures. The integration of shamanic healing approaches into the western medicine has led to the development of a hybrid health modality that encompasses the two different healing methods. The shamanism was widespread throughout the world in various cultural forms and is the oldest healing modality which might have been founded during the Upper Paleolithic period in Siberia. The shamanic healing practices have always been rebuked by the Western concepts that emerge from the scientific revolution (Rock Krippner, 2011). The story The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down shows how the shamanic and the biomedical healing approaches clash. This is the story of Lia Lee who is a Hmong child with epilepsy. The tragic demise of Lia Lee shows the dangers associated with the lack of cross-cultural communication within the medical profession. Lia experiences her first seizure at the age of three months after her older sister Yer slams a door. The parents, Nao Kao and Foua believe that the noise made by the door has caused Lias soul to flee. They, therefore, diagnose her illness as the spirit catches you, and then you fall. The parents believe that the seizures make Lia unique since people with epilepsy are chosen to be shamans (Fadiman, 2000). They take Lia to the Merced Community Medical Center, but they also involve the traditional healing approach by engaging a shaman who they believe will call her soul back. The parents have faith in a little neeb and a little medicine, and they believe that too much of t he drug may limit the efficiency of the spiritual healing. On the other hand, the doctors are rationalists who see Lias condition as purely a neurological disorder. Neil and Peggy who are Lias primary physicians try to provide her with the best medical care. However, the condition is not correctly diagnosed at first due to the lack of interpreters. The parents are unable and unwilling to follow the instructions given by the doctors as they are unhappy with the numerous side effects of the medication. The parents also do not have the understanding of the connection between the seizures and their effects on the human brain nor do they know the necessity of giving anticonvulsants (Fadiman, 2012). The Lees lack of compliance has devastating effects as Lia suffers more severe seizures and begins to show the signs of mental retardation. Neil allows Lia to be taken into foster care and the separation is traumatic for Lia and her parents. After she returns home, Lia goes into status epilepticus which makes her stay at the hospital for two weeks. After two months she goes into a septic shock which leaves her brain dead. The doctors assume that she will die hence they allow her to go home. However, she did not die as she lived for twenty-six years with care and support from her family who brought a neeb to hold a ceremony each year to ease her suffering (Fadiman, 2000). As seen above, culture plays a significant role in the story The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Most of the chapters share various aspects of Hmong history and culture which encompasses birth rituals, language, food, family structure, and clothing. They believe that many diseases have spiritual causes and can be healed through various traditional forms of healing which include rubbing the skin with coins, casting the disease out with an egg, and through the creation of a vacuum through ignition of cotton that has been soaked in alcohol under a small cup. A shaman conducts healing as he can get rid of the evil spirits which are called dabs and also retrieve souls. There are aspects of Hmong culture which include taboos against the medical procedures, their beliefs on the origin of various diseases, power structure within the family as well as the clans conflict with the western medicine culture which leads to the misunderstandings that are seen between the patients and doctors (Fadiman, 2012). Lias tragedy is due to the result of the cultural collision and also highlights the need for the development of cooperation and cultural understanding. Binan Goonj book; Bridging Cultures in Aboriginal health represents the perspectives, and various experiences of Eckermann and others on the research and the numerous government reports on the Aboriginal Affairs as well as the health of the Aboriginal people over the nineteen years of collaboration (Eckermann, Dowd, Chong, Nixon Gray, 2010). The authors elaborate on the historical, cultural, social, economic and political aspects of the Australian people during the colonization period which led to cultural conflict and racism. The authors claim that the Aboriginals health problem lies in the history as the non-Aboriginal British and other western European colonizers disregarded the Aborigine culture regarding healing and medication (Couzos Murray, 2008). The British and the Aboriginal people clashed as each of these two cultures thought that their management of various diseases and issues was the best way (Avrahami, 2011). The article; On the traditional healing practices, states that the historical records show that there are different accounts of individuals distressed by psychological and bodily disorders. These disorders are accompanied by their related healing practices which include spiritual and ceremonies mediated by shamans (Gewehr, Bata, Gomes Tavares, 2017). In earlier days, the healing process was empirical and was based on a mythical organization that may have survived to the more traditional populations of today. The healing practices that have persisted over various generations despite the many advancements in scientific medicine share similar principles. For instance, use of natural raw materials in the production of medicines. However, due to clashes in the cultural practices, most of the traditional ways of healing and medication have been eroded. Despite the cultural clashes of the biomedical and the shamanic practices, there are efforts aimed at incorporating the shamanic healing processes into the western medicine (Sodi Bojuwoye, 2011). Western health care providers are receiving training in the shamanic healing. In various traditional societies, the shamanic knowledge is sacred and should not be used for personal gains. Conclusion Colonization and spread of the western civilization have led to the clashing of the western biomedical and the shamanic practices. Each of the groups believes that their culture is superior and that its healing methods are the right one. These conflicts have resulted in a lot of suffering and even death. The case of Lia is an example of the plight that individuals go through due to the clashes between the Western biomedical approach and the shamanic practices. The Australian Aboriginal health also has various problems due to the clash between the healing cultures of the west and that of the Aboriginal people. From the numerous books and articles discussed above, it is evident that acknowledging the beliefs of other cultures could lead to the improvement of the patient outcomes. There are various examples of successful intercultural programs in which the shamans are encouraged to work alongside the western healthcare professionals. References Avrahami, E. (2011). Introduction: Bridging the Divides. The European Legacy, 16(3), 299-306. Couzos, S., Murray, R. (2008). Aboriginal primary health care: an evidence-based approach. Oxford University Press. Diener, E., Kahneman, D., Helliwell, J. (2010). International differences in well-being. Oxford University Press. Eckermann, A. K., Dowd, T., Chong, E., Nixon, L., Gray, R. (2010). Binan Goonj: bridging cultures in Aboriginal health. Elsevier Australia. Fadiman, A. (2000). The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: Epilepsy and the Hmong. Epilepsy Behavior, 1(1), S3-S8. Fadiman, A. (2012). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. Macmillan. Gewehr, R. B., Bata, J., Gomes, E., Tavares, R. (2017). On traditional healing practices: subjectivity and objectivation in contemporary therapeutics. Psicologia USP, 28(1), 33-43. Joralemon, D. (2015). Exploring medical anthropology. Routledge. Lock, M., Nguyen, V. K. (2010). An anthropology of biomedicine. John Wiley Sons. Lupton, D. (2012). Medicine as culture: Illness, disease and the body. Sage. Rock, A. J., Krippner, S. (2011). Demystifying shamans and their world: A multidisciplinary study. Andrews UK Limited. Sodi, T., Bojuwoye, O. (2011). Cultural embeddedness of health, illness and healing: Prospects for integrating indigenous and western healing practices. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 21(3), 349-356.