In this episode, Ricky and Kate introduce the topic of Moral Injury (MI) and discuss it in the context of military service members, first responders, and healthcare providers, although the term is not exclusive to these populations. MI is a very real cognitive and emotional response that individuals may experience following a violation of their moral or ethical code. These violations can occur when a person acts or fails to act, witnesses someone else act or fail to act, or is betrayed by a trusted individual in situations of significant consequence. The hosts describe the current state of research around MI, stressing the importance of family and various therapeutic approaches to healing, and they reference ongoing clinical trials. Ricky shares his own experiences with MI, and the two touch on how they’ve seen MI affect those they know. Research articles and books referenced in this episode are listed below.

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/cooccurring/moral_injury.asp#:~:text=Moral%20injury%20is%20the%20distressing,individual%27s%20values%20and%20moral%20beliefs

https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/nchav/resources/trauma/Moral_Injury.asp

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?cond=moral+injury&term=&cntry=&state=&city=&dist=

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03764033?cond=moral+injury&draw=2&rank=1

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05001542?cond=moral+injury&draw=2&rank=8

https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.19020036

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00443/full

https://oneop.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Griffin-MI-integrative-review.pdf

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/moral-injury-in-a-context-of-trauma/82DE047143C9669BDFEDC81E614A8CA5

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(21)00113-9/fulltext

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10567-013-0146-y

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine