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I sought help after the birth of my daughter, 'cause I could feel that I wasn't right.

Dr. Irene Zoesch (US Army, 2014-2018) talks about when she knew she needed help for moral injury.

Transcript

I returned from
Afghanistan in September of 2016

and then essentially was moved

into a new position
away from that

group
that I was on my tour with.

And so

navigating, moving that change,
moving to a new duty station,

getting on to an entire new

location and group of people,
you already are kind of caught

up in the day
to day of that change.

So it puts those other things
on the back burner.

But then

a year later,
I had my first daughter

and navigating having her

in an army setting while
having kind of some of the space

and time to sit
with where my emotions had been

that hadn't been addressed
made it difficult

to really figure out
what was wrong.

And I sought help
after the birth of my daughter

because I could feel that
I wasn't right.

And that is one that
I really got with a therapist

that was able to work with me
and identify the difference

between the combat exposure

with just that piece,

but then also the moral injury
of being in that combat exposure

and not being a help -

able to help,
which goes against my core value

of service
and protection of others.

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