Moral injury researchers typically use a version of an evaluation tool developed by Dr. Brett Litz of Boston University that asks subjects if they have personally committed a morally transgressive action, witnessed someone else committing such an action (often not stopping it), and/or experienced a deep betrayal of their own moral code.
Litz and his team found moral injury offered a better explanation than post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) of the psychological problems some veterans were feeling. A chronically heightened fear and stress response caused by a traumatic event does happen, but deep shame and guilt caused by participating in something that violates one’s moral code is a different problem. A more accurate diagnosis allows researchers to develop better methods to treat symptoms like depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, and suicidality.
Thanks to Adam Conover on Motherboard's Cyber podcast for reminding me to donate again to the Entertainment Community Fund - another $100 to support striking creative workers and other workers affected by the strike!
Camera bunker at Trinity Site, New Mexico, where the world's first nuclear weapon was detonated. (Library of Congress)
Source: twitter.com
Tucker 48, 1948. Albert Richard Sportswear ad from Pic Magazine, May 1948.
source: Alden Jewell on Flickr
Wega // Wegavision 2000 TV set with rotating screen (Germany, 1963)
Apollo 17's Gene Cernan
