Western Psychiatry and Difficulty: Understanding and Treating Hmong Refugees

The Hmong in Asia comprise a large, distinctive ethnic group that inhabits the countries of China, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, and Thailand. Although they do live in lowland areas of even islands of the South China Sea, they are widely known as “mountain people” who dwell in the Annamite Chain of mountains, several thousand feet above sea level (Geddes, 1976). The Hmong, whose name for themselves means “free [people],” possess a long tradition of self-sufficiency and resistance to outside interference or domination (Lemoine, 1972). Throughout the twentieth century, national, regional, and even international forces have challenged their traditions, world views, and sociopolitical roles in Southeast Asia (Yang, 1974).