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You crossed a line somehow…

Dr. Shira Maguen defines moral injury and explains how culture and values can shape Veterans' experiences of moral injury.

Transcript

Moral injury
is really made up of two parts.

So one is having an exposure

and the other is symptoms that
result due to that exposure.

So moral injury

is something that you did,
failed to do, or witnessed

that went against your morals
and values.

So it's you crossed a line
somehow and as a result

you have a number of symptoms,
including guilt, shame,

self-hatred, withdrawal, and
the inability to self forgive.

And so depending on the person's
background,

depending on the person's

culture, 
depending on their spirituality,

those morals and values
are going to be very different.

And so when we talk to people,
we really try to understand

what their background is first
so we can modify the message

that we're giving to them

based on those particular
individual characteristics.

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