Culture gap

In other countries, symptoms of mental illness vary, with treatments that American doctors are just beginning to appreciate

Cambodian immigrant Heap You continues to use the traditional 'cupping' treatment she learned in her homeland, believing it allows harmful 'excess wind' to escape her body. Mental health professionals have long been skeptical of such techniques, but some are becoming more open to including them along with Western treatments. With cupping, a small heated glass is placed upside-down on the skin. As the air inside it cools, it creates a vacuum that draws some of the skin into the cup, leaving a welt.

(Globe Staff / George Rizer) Cambodian immigrant Heap You continues to use the traditional "cupping" treatment she learned in her homeland, believing it allows harmful "excess wind" to escape her body. Mental health professionals have long been skeptical of such techniques, but some are becoming more open to including them along with Western treatments. With cupping, a small heated glass is placed upside-down on the skin. As the air inside it cools, it creates a vacuum that draws some of the skin into the cup, leaving a welt.

By Patricia Wen

Globe Staff / March 24, 2008

E-mail|
Reprints|

Text size – +

LOWELL - Heap You's doctors thought she was crazy. The Cambodian immigrant kept saying her neck was going to explode, though an examination showed nothing physically wrong. One hospital put her on antipsychotic medication. (Full article: 1136 words)