In order to heal a wound, we first must trace its edges. How vast are its borders? How deep does it go?
The wound many of us find ourselves collectively tending to at the moment is a moral one. Moral injury refers to a kind of psychological wound that occurs when an event violates our most deeply held moral values and beliefs — that our parents always have our best interest at heart, that people are generally good and kind, that the institutions that we trust are just. A moral injury, like any traumatic injury, can stamp the world with meaning and radically change someone’s feelings about themselves and the world.
Source: Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash
What Is Moral Injury?
The term was coined by Dr. Jonathan Shay, who was working with combat veterans and felt like the clinical framework for PTSD was missing this deeper, spiritual kind of wound. A combat soldier might experience moral injury if they received or granted orders that are immoral or inhumane. If their leaders unflinchingly ordered cruel behavior, what does that mean about leadership? About the military in general? If they followed those orders, what does it mean about themselves?
Moral injury does not restrict itself to combat, though. A nurse might experience moral injury when they are forced to ration care during a pandemic, leading to a patient’s preventable death. How can they reconcile their impossible choice with their deeply held values? What of their duty to “do no harm”? Childhood abuse survivors often experience moral injury when they realize that they were betrayed by the people who were supposed to protect them — both their abuser and any bystander aware of their situation.
And after a wildly tumultuous election, many of us are grappling with moral injury too. Regardless of what side of the aisle you find yourself on, it has become undeniably true that what we thought was aisle is not an aisle at all, it is a gaping abyss. The things that separate us are not about policies or economics. The things that separate us are about hatred, violence, and dehumanization.
We believed we were the United States. This election has proven that we are not united. And this deep sense of unease is not just about who won or lost; it’s about a growing recognition that the rules of the game, the structures of meaning and morality we thought we could rely on, might be crumbling and might have already crumbled.
The Extent of the Wound
It can feel difficult to trace a psychological wound. Where are the edges of a moral injury? How can you measure its depths? Put another way, what’s the prognosis?
According to Jonathan Shay,
Moral injury is present when there has been (a) a betrayal of ‘what’s right’; (b) either by a person in legitimate authority (my definition), or by one’s self—“I did it” (Litz, Maguen, Nash, et al.); (c) in a high stakes situation. Both forms of moral injury impair the capacity for trust and elevate despair, suicidality, and interpersonal violence. They deteriorate character.
In other words, the wound is deep, the outlook precarious. Our moral compasses have shattered and suddenly the comforting truths that once guided us, that we counted on, seem false. Inadequate. In their absence, we’re left disoriented, grappling with a deeper sense of betrayal — by others and by the systems and values we believed to be unshakable.
This collective disorientation did not begin on November 5th, 2024. There was a long road full of other stressors and injuries. The pandemic decimated the healthcare system and the economy. Social movements laid bare systemic inequities that many could no longer ignore. Media outlets shrugged off ethics in favor of capitalistic gain and systematically corrupting the truth, making it profoundly difficult to be rightfully informed.
How do you know if you are struggling with moral injury? There are a couple of reliable features of a moral injury. Namely, self-blame, loss of trust in oneself and the world, and a deep, existential doubt.
- Self-blame: Could I have done more to make things better? Was I complicit in allowing this to happen?
- Loss of trust: If even the most sacred and longstanding institutions falter, who or what can I rely on?
- Existential doubt: If truth can be rewritten, and morality is subjective, how do we find meaning in anything?
Moral Injury Essential Reads
There is a fourth feature that is not present in the clinical literature yet, and that is humiliation. It is humiliating to discover that the structures and values that we placed so much faith in might have been fatally flawed all along. The pain of this realization can feel insurmountable. And, It is also a moment of reckoning. And in any reckoning, there is always hope.
Making a New Compass
Moral injury is distinct from PTSD in that it focuses on the violation of moral or ethical values rather than solely the experience of fear or threat. So healing then involves not only addressing the psychological effects but also rebuilding trust in oneself and the world.
Here’s the hopeful part: Just because our compasses sometimes shatter doesn’t mean we’re doomed to wander aimlessly. It means we are now tasked to create new ones. As individuals and as a society, we can choose to create new compasses and draw new maps – ones that are rooted in the lessons we’ve learned from the chaos.
- Acknowledge the Loss: Before building something new, we must grieve what was lost. This grief is not just for broken institutions or failed leaders but also for our own shattered sense of security and certainty. Mourning is an act of acknowledgment: the structures failed you, and your feelings of betrayal are valid.
- Define New Values: In the absence of old certainties, we have the power to establish new ones. What will anchor your moral compass now? Perhaps the chaos has clarified values you didn’t realize mattered so much. Justice. Kindness. Accountability. The opportunity to rebuild allows us to decide what truly matters and ensure our actions – personally and collectively – align with those values.
- Lean into the Existential Crisis: After the grieving, there is a grand opportunity in realizing that meaning does not inherently lie in structures outside of us. This is because it reveals something that was always true which is that we do not find meaning, we create meaning. And when we create a meaning structure that does not work, or does not serve us, we are free – nay, obligated – to create new ones.
Continuing to Build
Elections are stories we write together. They reveal not just who we are in this moment, but who we want to be. If the current moment feels like moral injury on a grand scale, that means by definition it is also an invitation to redraw our collective compass and head off in a new direction. What signposts will we create? What truths will guide us forward?
The road ahead might not be clear, but it’s not about finding the one right path. It’s about believing that even when the compass shatters, we can still find our way.
