The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures is a 1997 book by Anne Fadiman that chronicles the struggles of a Hmong refugee family from Houaysouy, Sainyabuli Province, Laos,[1] the Lees, and their interactions with the health care system in Merced, California.

"[2] On the most basic level, the book tells the story of the family's second youngest and favored daughter, Lia Lee, who was diagnosed with a severe form of epilepsy named Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, and the cultural conflict that obstructed her treatment.

Through miscommunications about medical dosages and parental refusal to give certain medicines due to mistrust, misunderstandings, and behavioral side effects, and the inability of the doctors to develop more empathy with the traditional Hmong lifestyle or try to learn more about the Hmong culture, Lia's condition worsens.

The book is written in a distinctive style, with every other chapter returning to Lia's story and the chapters in between discussing broader themes of Hmong culture, customs, and history; American involvement in and responsibility for the war in Laos; and the many problems of immigration, especially assimilation and discrimination.

Beginning in infancy, Lia experiences severe seizures due to Lennox–Gastaut syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy.

Anne Fadiman: author and narrator of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, writing about her experience with Lia and her family.

Throughout the story, they clash with Lia's parents, whose adherence to Hmong shamanism conflicts deeply with their own beliefs about Western medicine.

Foua Yang and Nao Kao Lee: Lia’s parents, who believe fervently in the traditional Hmong approach to medicine.

She is presented as one of the few members of the American medical establishment willing to acknowledge Hmong tradition and tailor treatment to Lia's case.

She stated "Were I citing the source of each detail, Quincy's name would attach itself to nearly every sentence in the pages on the Hmong in China.