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The Spiritual Dimension of Moral Injury and PTSD

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The Great Power Competition Volume 4

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Abstract

This chapter aims to carefully distinguish Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from Moral Injury (MI) and review the role of the spiritual dimension in the causation, healing, and prevention of both syndromes. We argue that by giving due consideration to this spiritual dimension, the U.S. military can better prepare soldiers to encounter potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) in deployment and combat.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The PTSD symptom clusters in Table 1 are reflected exactly as they appear in the APA’s DSM-5 [1, pp. 271–272]. The common experiences identified within this table also appear in the DSM-5, but our descriptions of these experiences have been summarized for inclusion in this table.

  2. 2.

    Also see, Forkus et al. [10], Lancaster and Erbes [23], and Lancaster and Irene Harris [24].

  3. 3.

    The PTSD therapies and descriptions in Table 3 are reflected exactly as they appear on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs [42] website.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Religious Studies, The University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA

    Garrett W. Potts & Lily M. Abadal

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  1. Garrett W. Potts
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Correspondence to Garrett W. Potts .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Adib Farhadi

  2. College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Anthony Masys

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Potts, G.W., Abadal, L.M. (2023). The Spiritual Dimension of Moral Injury and PTSD. In: Farhadi, A., Masys, A. (eds) The Great Power Competition Volume 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22934-3_17

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