This study highlights one of the findings from my dissertation: that moral injury is different than post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In addition, it may be co-morbid with PTSD or stand on its own.
This study provides some of the first evidence that events experienced by UK veterans can simultaneously be morally injurious and traumatic or life-threatening as well as highlighting the process by which moral injury may occur in UK veterans.
From my previous work:
Reorienting the focus from PTSD to moral injury, this study finds critical implications to helping war veterans with their sequela of war. For instance, conventional treatments for PTSD such as prolonged exposure (PE) or cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), while effective for treating the co-morbid symptoms of PTSD, do not address the profound insights which can be gleaned from re-examination of the phenomena in terms of moral injury [emphasis added]. Most importantly, moral injury as a psycho-spiritual dilemma is something for which the veteran must embrace primacy in seeking resolution, working outside of the typical evidenced-based therapies.