# Behind the Uniform: When struck by moral injury



## RackMaster (Sep 15, 2017)

An excellent read.  It's Canadian and the resources listed are Canadian but the article is relevant to many of us.



> Behind the Uniform: When struck by moral injury
> By Dr. Katy Kamkar, Clinical Psychologist at CAMH, Director at Badge of Life Canada and Medical Practitioner at the Invictus Games
> 
> When moral injury hits, it hits hard and can have a long lasting emotional and psychological impact.
> ...


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## Marauder06 (Sep 15, 2017)

Interesting article.  I admit to being skeptical, though.  The article says:



> Unintentional errors leading to injury or death
> Witnessing and/or failing to prevent harm or death
> Transgression of peers, leaders or organizations that betrayed our moral/ethical beliefs or expectations



The first two pre-suppose that unintentional deaths, or even intentional ones, are de facto "morally injurious."  Moreover, the term "injury" is problematic.  An injury is a wound, or some type of harm.  To me this seems like a setup to get more people on the "disabled" rolls.  I think there is probably a better and more accurate term out there than "moral injury."


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## Teufel (Sep 15, 2017)

Is this the veterans version of triggered?


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## Frank S. (Sep 15, 2017)

Sometime between WWI and WWII, or perhaps after, there used to be a joke about military leadership in France, defined as the successful application of one's suicidal instincts unto others. It was funny and self-defeating at the same time.


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## RackMaster (Sep 15, 2017)

There's a lot of use of injury up here.  We typically don't use PTSD as a blanket description, since there's so many different flavours and combinations of mental health diagnosis.  We use Operational Stress Injury to encompass everything.  I think the intention is to cut back on comparing diagnosis and that it can be healed.


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## Marauder06 (Sep 16, 2017)

How about just "operational stress" or "emotional distress?"  Is there some benefit to calling it an "injury?"


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## BloodStripe (Sep 16, 2017)

Marauder06 said:


> How about just "operational stress" or "emotional distress?"  Is there some benefit to calling it an "injury?"



I believe they are using the term to try and be politically correct.


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## RackMaster (Sep 16, 2017)

Marauder06 said:


> How about just "operational stress" or "emotional distress?"  Is there some benefit to calling it an "injury?"



Way above my pay grade.


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## Red Flag 1 (Sep 16, 2017)

.


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## Andoni (Sep 16, 2017)

Moral injury, PTS and TBI is the trifecta of Satan's asshole, imo.  I found a therapist who works directly from St. Augustine's writing to treat moral injury. 

She's 65, loves Krav Maga and previously affiliated with SWCS. She has my ear.

My takeaway is that "Privation of good" and "exposure to evil, not abuse" are two recurring topics and required elements in moral injury. 

She is clear that "privation of good" and "exposure to evil, not abuse" doesn't apply to people who are true psychopaths or sociopaths-- but absolutely applies to the vast majority of war fighters and first responders, because the occupations require emotional paralysis in order to operate.

My take is that moral injury creates an injury of the soul, which can leave what feels and appears to an empty hole, afterwards. Augustine says that it's not empty, in the hole in your soul, it's just pitch black. Exposure to evil is the shade, and the sun is a person's soul. 

When the sun is obscured from view, it's still there. When a non-sociopath is exposed to evil, it creates a hole that isn't empty, but it feel like it. The hole is dark for the same reason the ground is dark by a tree in the hot sun. The sun is still there, but tree obscures it, and there's a shadow, so it's dark and cool.

A lot of this is way over my head, honestly. I have zero interest in philosophy.  But seeing the "moral injury therapist woman" isn't making anything worse, so that is of value to me.


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## Frank S. (Sep 16, 2017)

Marauder06 said:


> How about just "operational stress" or "emotional distress?"  Is there some benefit to calling it an "injury?"



To the extent the term injury reflects an incapacitation, rather than a level of "difficulty" or strain, I would say it's more accurate.
My  two pennies.
One for each eye.


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## RackMaster (Sep 16, 2017)

Andoni said:


> Moral injury, PTS and TBI is the trifecta of Satan's asshole, imo.  I found a therapist who works directly from St. Augustine's writing to treat moral injury.
> 
> She's 65, loves Krav Maga and previously affiliated with SWCS. She has my ear.
> 
> ...



Very well put.


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## Serenity (Sep 16, 2017)

I think 'moral injury' sounds like a good term, but I was diasappointed with the article.  It felt like it lacked depth over something that needs to be carefully defined, and is instead a catch all that could cover anything.  So interesting concept but fluffy for me.  As a civilian, I didn't get much from it tbh.  I was hoping for more...


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## Andoni (Sep 18, 2017)

RackMaster said:


> Very well put.



Thank you. Its a goddamn shock that I made it through that entire thing without using "fuck" 18 times... I'm totally disappointed in myself.


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