"I help military veterans overcome complex guilt caused by moral injury so they can reconnect with God and rebuild relationships." Mara Mesa, Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Morality is frequently associated with a negative concept. Often, when people think of morality, they think of sin or things that we should not do, but morality goes beyond what we shouldn’t do or what is frowned upon. Morality is no more than a set of perceived standards that draws a line that our characters should follow. But let me start by giving a more comprehensive but concise definition as recognized through academia. Morals are described as the personal and shared family, cultural, social, and lawful guidelines for social conduct, whether implicit or explicit (Litz et al., 2009). Morals are fundamental ideas about how things should operate and how people should act (Litz et al., 2009).
So, how do our moral beliefs affect our mental health? I’m glad you asked!
When individuals behave in a ‘pro-social’ or ‘moral’ manner, they experience and develop neurobiological responses called ‘positive’ emotions, such as empathy, thankfulness, and pride (Wright, 2010). When fundamental moral beliefs are contradicted, the individual feels many negative emotions, including anger, shame, guilt, and self-condemnation.
A Moral Injury (MI) occurs when (1) there has been a offence against what is believed to be right, (2) by someone in legitimate authority, and (3) in a high-stakes circumstance (Emmerich, 2022). Ultimately, the negative emotions and the fear of humiliation and social rejection push the individual to avoid participating in many life events (Hollis et al., 2023). Nevertheless, guilt, shame, and self-betrayal are not viewed as misplaced emotions in moral injury, but as potentially legitimate emotions generated by the perceived violations (Litz et al., 2009);(Nash & Litz, 2013).
The spiritual community plays a role in the definition and instruction of morality. The church’s social philosophy is both religious and moral. Religious because the church’s evangelistic and salvific mission encompasses man “in the entire reality of his being, and also of his communal and social being,” and moral because the church seeks a “full form of humanism” (CCC 1997, sec. 82) (Thomas, 2007).
The spiritual essence of a person is the cornerstone of the human spirit. It consists of a person’s most essential values and beliefs about purpose and meaning in life, world beliefs, and a sense of direction for reaching one’s total capacity and mission (Pargament & Sweeney, 2011).
Spirituality is the component of humanity that relates to how people seek and express meaning and purpose and how they feel connected to the present, to themselves, to others, to nature, and the meaningful or “holy” (Ferrell & Baird, 2012). Spirituality concerns the relationship between the individual and the higher power. Spirituality generates genuine thankfulness to the point that the spiritual seeker may attach sanctity or holiness to the events that significantly impact them.
Thru spirituality, individuals may discover answers to unanswerable issues, comfort when other kinds of support are unavailable, consolation when life feels out of control, and new sources of meaning and importance when previous aspirations are no longer feasible via spirituality (Pargament et al., 2005). Spirituality is a separate resource for life, especially well-suited to the fight against human limits (Pargament & Mahoney, 2005).
References
Emmerich, S. J. (2022). Contemplative practice, acceptance, and healing in moral injury. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 28(S1), S25–S31. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2022.2032977
Ferrell, B. R., & Baird, P. (2012). Deriving Meaning and Faith in Caregiving. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 28(4), 256–261. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SONCN.2012.09.008
Hollis, J., Hanna, P., & Perman, G. (2023). Recontextualising moral injury among military veterans: An integrative theoretical review. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 33(1), 85–101. https://doi.org/10.1002/CASP.2643
Litz, B. T., Stein, N., Delaney, E., Lebowitz, L., Nash, W. P., Silva, C., & Maguen, S. (2009). Moral injury and moral repair in war veterans: A preliminary model and intervention strategy. Clinical Psychology Review, 29(8), 695–706. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CPR.2009.07.003
Nash, W. P., & Litz, B. T. (2013). Moral Injury: A Mechanism for War-Related Psychological Trauma in Military Family Members. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 16(4), 365–375. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10567-013-0146-Y
Pargament, K. I., & Mahoney, A. (2005). Theory: “Sacred matters: Sanctification as a vital topic for the psychology of religion.” International Journal of Phytoremediation, 21(1), 179–198. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327582IJPR1503_1
Pargament, K. I., Murray-Swank, N. A., & Tarakeshwar, N. (2005). An empirically- based rationale for a spiritually-integrated psychotherapy. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 8(3), 155–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/13694670500138940
Pargament, K. I., & Sweeney, P. J. (2011). Building Spiritual Fitness in the Army: An Innovative Approach to a Vital Aspect of Human Development. American Psychologist, 66(1), 58–64. https://doi.org/10.1037/A0021657