Many of the patients at Metta Health Center seek meditation, and other traditional forms of Cambodian healing, to deal with headaches, insomnia, and other symptoms of PTSD, reports WVXU.
Doctors at a health clinic in Lowell, Massachusetts, had a problem — their exam rooms reminded refugee patients of torture chambers. The stethoscopes, the blood pressure cuff squeezing your arm — they looked like the torture devices used on their families, during Cambodia’s genocide.
Sonith Peou was just 24 when the Khmer Rouge pounded on the door of their family home, and took his father away for execution. Now 63, he’s a program director at the Lowell Community Health Center and he understands why a visit to the doctor’s office can feel traumatic for Cambodian refugees. For some, he says, simply being left alone in a room and waiting for a doctor could cause anxiety.
