Do you have a “moral injury”?
Stars & Stripes and Military.com report that the new buzz word in the mental health vocabulary is “moral injury” to describe combat stress;
In the mental health community, moral injury is defined as stress arising from witnessing, perpetrating or failing to stop actions that violate a person’s deeply held belief system. In combat, this could be the killing of a woman or child, the inability to save a fellow Marine, or the failure of leadership to live up to a moral code.
For the struggles that Marines have with combat stress from actions in war, the Corps likes the term “inner conflict.” Brett Litz, who is with the National Center for PTSD and presented at the conference, says he prefers “moral injury” over “inner conflict” because it is evocative and specific.
Marines don’t like the term because it makes them appear immoral. I have to agree. In the world of mental health professionals who usually twist themselves into knots to keep from making moral judgments on certain classes of people and illnesses, this one seems rather poorly considered. Of course, they’d like to make it a moral judgment on the people who kill for a living, people who mental health professionals consider inferior in the first place.
I absolutely dare the mental health professional community to say serial killers or sexual predators suffer from “moral injuries”. It’ll never happen because those people need to be sheltered from moral judgements, whereas soldiers and Marines don’t in their tiny, obtuse world.
Thanks to Mew for the link.
Category: Veteran Health Care
Roger on the wrong choice of words. To truly define “Moral Injury”, one should use perhaps, Kieth Olbermann as an illustration. He is a “Moral Injury” on America.
Moral Injury,,,,, Metthis is a “Moral Injury”, on the name of good service people everywhere.
So if my vote in the last presidential election failed to prevent the current administration’s actions that violate my strongly-held moral convictions and I was on active duty at the time, then that would be a sevice-related injury and I am now eligible for additional disability?
While you may have a point about the specific term “moral injury,” the concept is a valid one. I think you may have misinterpreted the concept. “Moral injury” refers to an event that violates the closely held values of the individual Marine or soldier. Example: an Honor Code violation at West Point that was known to faculty but not investigated or punished would violate the cadets’ moral code. The moral code of the mental health clinician is not relevant.
Two examples from my clinic patients: a West Point grad orders a convoy for the sole reason of visiting a FOB with television to watch the Army-Navy game; chain of command fails to intervene with credible reports of a NCO selling illicit drugs and a soldier dies of an overdose. When a Marine’s necessary trust in the chain of command is abused by the command, one understandable result is anger. The term “moral injury” is intended to separate these incidents from combat-related PTSD.
Remember, the “drink water and drive on” comments may not be heard behind the closed doors of mental health or Chaplain’s offices when these Marines, sailors, and soldiers ask for help. Publically, they’ll say the ‘right’ answer, but in private, they ask for help.
Also, there are at least a few mental health professional who have the highest possible respect for the combat arms. My patients say “Damn, Doc, I don’t know how you spent all those years in school,” to which I say “Damn, I don’t know how you endured all those years of training to make MARSOC.” These guys are special, and I have met colleagues who don’t share my respect for warriors. Do you think your generalized comment about mental health applies to veterans who work at the VA? I personally know of three mental health professionals with a Combat Action Ribbon or Combat Infantry/Medic Badge.
You stand corrected that all mental health clinicians disrespect or look down upon combat arms warriors.
Sadly, if you edit your post to indicate “many mental health professionals,” you will be accurate. I wish it weren’t so.
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Jonn interpreted it the way any layman would. You know like when I try and get a job or life/health insurance and my records say “moral injury”. The connotation is horrible and will put an even greater burden on those who suffer from mental health issues due to their service.
The number of combat veteran mental health professionals is so low as to be statistically nonexistent. With so few, the force they exert on the profession is negligible to the point of insignificance.
And as to your last line– if he changed it to “most” it would be accurate.
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A heart-felt thank you to those in your profession that do care and are able to make a difference. Too bad no one I know has run across them.