Moral Injury
What is Moral Injury?
Moral injury is a psychological and social problem that can happen when we violate deeply held values about right and wrong or we are affected by others that violate these beliefs. Moral harm can weaken beliefs about the goodness and trustworthiness of oneself, others, or the world.
Any painful experience can lead to a loss of something that is important to us. If something is extremely frightening, we may lose our sense of safety. If our home is damaged in a storm, we lose a sense of safety, comfort, and the resources we need to do the things that support us. If we lose somebody we love, we lose a source of support and comfort. When we do things that hurt others, we can lose the belief that we are good and valued and feel like we are not worthy of being around other people or our communities. When others fail us because of their violations of what is just and good, we can lose our trust and sense of the goodness of people or institutions.
The Biology of Morality and Moral Injury
We need each other to survive. Since the beginning of mankind, we survived because we developed rules about when to help or compete with others. Since then, we have grown to expect the “golden rule,” or the belief that “if I do good by others, others will do good by me.” Our ideas about right and wrong stem from these beliefs that help us live together. Parts of our brain developed to expect cooperation and help from our group (“us”) versus another group (“them”). Chemicals in our brain make being cooperative, kind, considerate, and caring to our families and friends feel rewarding. We are also less likely to be cooperative and understanding of people outside our group. We feel like we belong when there is shared trust between people as part of a family, an organization, or a friend group. Feeling like this is comforting and makes us feel safe. When something disturbs this trust or bond, we feel scared and stressed. When we break the golden rule within a group, we are treated like we can no longer be part of the group that used to provide comfort and safety. This rejection is related to feeling shame, which may cause us to have a tough time coping with other life challenges, and our relationships and health can suffer. Shame is the opposite of pride. Pride happens when we see ourselves as good and useful to our family or another group’s success. Shame makes people feel like there is something wrong with them and makes them pull away from others and hide themselves. When others violate our trust and treat us unfairly or wrongfully, or we see someone else being treated in a cruel way, we are biologically driven by anger to attack, humiliate, and get back at the violator. These experiences can cause us to distrust people in general and push away people that we used to love, which can lead to loneliness, isolation, and feeling like we no longer belong to something important and valued.
Next: Isn't Moral Injury Just PTSD?
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