"Staring into the abyss": veterans’ accounts of moral injuries and spiritual challenges
The concept moral injury is receiving increased attention, especially as it pertains to military trauma. In war, service members may both observe and directly experience horrific events that one can scarcely prepare for. For some, this can result in a shattering of their assumptive world and loss of...
| Published in: | Mental health, religion & culture |
|---|---|
| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2019
|
| In: |
Mental health, religion & culture
Year: 2019, Volume: 22, Issue: 1, Pages: 25-40 |
| Further subjects: | B
military veterans
B Posttraumatic Stress Disorder B Moral Injury B spiritual and religious challenges |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The concept moral injury is receiving increased attention, especially as it pertains to military trauma. In war, service members may both observe and directly experience horrific events that one can scarcely prepare for. For some, this can result in a shattering of their assumptive world and loss of meaning. For those who are spiritually oriented, a spiritual or existential crisis may ensue. This qualitative study examines military related spiritual and moral wounds experienced by 23 veterans receiving services at a United States Veteran Administration Medical Center. In these first-person accounts, veterans provide insight into a variety of trauma-related struggles including guilt and shame, loss of trust and betrayal, the search for meaning and for the forgiveness of self and others, loneliness and withdrawal, anger, and negative changes in spiritual beliefs and practices. The findings support a call for additional trauma treatment options that address the spiritual and moral components. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1469-9737 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Mental health, religion & culture
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2019.1578952 |