What is moral injury?
Moral injury is the potential outcome of witnessing an event that goes against ones moral beliefs, or participating in the act oneself. Moral injury can also be caused by feeling betrayed by someone you trusted, like a coworker, supervisor, or workplace.
It often results in intense feelings of guilt, shame, disgust, and anger.
What is posttraumatic stress?
Posttraumatic stress (PTS) is a response to traumatic events that one has personally experienced, has learned about happening to a loved one, or has been exposed to. This could include actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence.
PTS symptoms can include:
- Reliving the event repeatedly in your mind
- Having nightmares
- Avoiding family and friends
- Having trouble sleeping
- Losing interest in enjoyable activities
- Avoiding places and people that remind you of the event
Some people with PTS also experience dissociation. This means that they feel disconnected from themselves, or feel like things happening around them are unreal or unfamiliar.
Though most people who experience a traumatic event will have a strong reaction, many will recover over time. Experiencing trauma doesn’t mean you will develop PTS.
