David Wood's Moral Injury: The Side-Effect of War

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Moral Injury after War Moral injury is a side-effect of war pronounced by David Wood. The choices that soldiers have to make in the heat of the battle may at times be clear. Other times, soldiers have to make decisions that shake the very foundation of their moral beliefs. While some of these decisions are considered necessary, their effect is still strong nonetheless. Wood defines moral injury, in the context of war, as the pain or injury felt by a soldier due to an action conducted during a war that damages their ethical perspectives (Wood). Wood gives a good illustration of a case of a soldier who is faced with an armed child soldier in battle. Other than going against the law of war, killing a child goes against a soldier's morals. However, if he/she does not do something, the child will kill the soldier. In a split second, the soldier is forced to break his/her morals and kill the child. Such an event leaves an everlasting mark on a soldier's mind. Wood terms moral injury as "the significant wound to the current generation of veterans" (Wood). Moral injury causes pain to a soldier akin to the pain caused by grief or sorrow (Wood). The majority of the veterans can attest that they have been forced to make 'immoral' or 'unethical' decisions in combat, and these decisions haunt them. Moral injury is felt in survivors' guilt, death of comrades, death of civilians, and many other examples. Since the US Department of Defence does not recognize moral injury, many can assume that such side-effects do not exist. However, failure to recognize moral injury does more to injure veterans than help them.  Moral injury is strikingly similar to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The National Institute of Mental Health defines PTSD as a disorder that develops when someone has experienced some form of a traumatic event. The event could be shocking, scary, or dangerous (National Institute of Mental Health). The effects of PTSD are dependent on the level of trauma experienced by a person. More traumatic events may lead to severe PTSD than the expected short-term PTSD for every person who experiences a traumatic event. By definition, PTSD and moral injury are pretty similar. Veterans are known people with PTSD due to the dangerous situations they were in during the war. Veterans still experience fear and stress even when they leave the battlefield. However, Wood notes that while signs and symptoms of PTSD are similar to those of moral injury, PTSD does not cater to particular aspects of moral injury. People with PTSD and those suffering from moral injury all experience depression, anxiety, insomnia, nightm...