Within the past decade, the emerging field of moral injury has focused mostly on the clinical dimension of a traumatic event (Griffin et al., Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2019, 32, p. 350). This article will present a character dimension of moral injury and briefly introduce a dual pathway model of moral injury reflecting clinical and character dimensions. The investigation of the character domain borrows from the theoretical and empirical bases of moral philosophy, moral psychology, character psychology, and social psychology. Hence, this multidisciplinary understanding of moral injury encompasses: (a) moral failure, or the failure to adhere to a virtue as prescribed by a group or institution, (b) suffering or death as a direct result of moral failure, (c) unethical marking on a person's character, and (d) experience of identity negotiation between the real self and the undesired self. This character framework attempts to advance a broader theoretical foundation for moral injury that has wider applicability to the varieties of human experience, and reflects a deeper understanding of the self-concept that is not defined by and does not necessarily reflect clinical impairments.
Public Significance StatementThis article discusses how moral injury arises when the experience of suffering caused by moral failure (i.e., the lack of human goodness) is reflected onto one's character and identity. Moral injury is defined as a less than virtuous state of being (in the Aristotelian context of character and identity) arising from suffering or even death brought about by one's own or another person's moral failure.
Open adjunctive GBP was effective and well tolerated in patients with mild to moderate bipolar depression. This open pilot study must be viewed with caution, and randomized controlled studies are warranted.
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