Post #1013266

If your depression has more muchness of late, and you are struggling like I am, consider this: ‘Not unique to war’: millions of Americans suffer from moral injury. What’s causing it? Psychologist Michael Valdovinos explains this ‘unique kind of stress’, which is now acknowledged in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders "You can sustain moral injury in one catastrophic event, like hurting an enemy combatant in an armed conflict you don’t believe is just. It can also appear after a slow crescendo of moral distress, as people who work in slaughterhouses or prisons report. Easily mistaken for depression, moral distress frequently presents as sadness or feeling like a bad person." "What I’m noticing, and I think a lot of clinical colleagues have, is that overwhelmingly their practices are getting filled with older folks coming to treatment for moral distress. They have a longer memory of how things used to work. Many grew up believing in certain norms about institutions, leadership and basic behavior. When those expectations are repeatedly violated, it can feel deeply destabilizing. Not just frustrating, but like something fundamental has broken. It feels like a betrayal, and that is a pathway to moral injury." https://www.theguardian.com/global/2026/apr/07/moral-injury-us-citizens-michael-valdovinos-book