Citation

Masick MED. Mil. Law Rev. 2016; 224(1): 223-289.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School (JAGS), U.S. Army)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The evidence for the existence of moral injury is overwhelming. Moral injury causes mental torture to the very troops whose care is entrusted to American leaders. It leads soldiers to try to drown their sorrows in alcohol or the euphoria of drugs, to be involuntarily separated from the service due to disciplinary action, or to voluntarily leave the service- or the world, by killing themselves-because they feel they cannot cope anymore. It greatly burdens the U.S. military and civilian healthcare systems. It hurts the ability of veterans to positively contribute to society. It distresses and sometimes leads to the physical harm of those who interact with afflicted soldiers. Of all these adverse effects of moral injury, it is the role that moral injury may play in the U.S. military's high suicide rate that has attracted the most attention.1.

Language: en