Veterans and Families

Moral injury has been confused with PTSD,which means moral injury  has been neglected and misunderstood as a distinct wound of war.

PTSD is an injury in the amygdala and hippocampus areas of the brain that regulate emotions. Moral Injury is not a psychological disorder, but a normal moral response to the ambiguities of war, especially in a counterinsurgency context. It requires a healthy pre-frontal cortex, where reflection on moral values and empathy occur, and it has the quality of a slow burn, so it can take years to surface and exact its toll.

Though it is a wound as old as war, moral injury has been understood as an individual problem. We seek to teach civilian societies to support recovery from moral injury by bringing combat veterans all the way home. To undertake such public education, we have many questions about moral injury we must answer through research and reflection.

If you are a veteran or an active member of the armed services, you may want to be involved with this  unique program that seeks to educate our entire society about moral injury. There are ways you can help:

1.       Send us your stories about your struggles with moral conscience in war and, if you are no longer in the armed services, your journey to civilian life. While each person’s experience is unique, we hope to discern patterns that will help us validate what we are discovering and to train others to understand moral injury.

2.       Donate to help us sustain the program so every person who is sent to fight in war has the community support to return and live a long and fruitful life. [link to donate page] Our funding has been granted for two years, but we know that until all wars cease, there will be a need for public education and the work of soul repair after war. Your investment in the Battle Buddies Circle [link to donation page to highlight donor group name]will give us the assurance that we can continue our work for a long time to come, offering  a gift of life to other veterans through their families and communities.

3.       Talk to other veterans about moral injury. Many are being treated for PTSD, but have an intuition that something else is wrong. Yet, they cannot name what is wrong. Or  they may feel that they do not have a psychological disorder, but still feel isolated and alone because they sense something in them is not right.

4.       Stay in touch by signing up for email updates. As we plan conferences, create training programs and online rsources, and develop regional and local programs, we will let you know. You will be one of our best force-multipliers for spreading the word about our work.

Soul Repair Center