The Minneapolis *Star-Tribune* includes an article:"Minneapolis VA studies
invisible scars from combat;cResearchers at the Minneapolis VA probe whether
killing in combat leaves lasting spiritual wounds" by Jeremy Olson.
Here are some excerpts:
[begin excerpt]
Those kinds of deadly wartime encounters -- and their imprints on soldiers'
consciences -- are the focus of a new movement among military medical
researchers to study "moral injuries," the invisible scars on soldiers who
believe they have committed condemnable acts.
Psychologists at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis are at the forefront
of the work, helping to define moral injury, examining how it aggravates
mental disorders, and testing whether an experimental form of group therapy
can heal such wounds of the spirit.
A study of survey results for 814 Minnesota National Guard members who
served in Iraq over the past decade showed that those who experienced moral
injury had higher levels of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD).
Moral injury generally refers to any type of guilt, shame, or depression
that arises from actions that may have violated deeply held beliefs. But for
this study, which was presented at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center last
month, soldiers met the criteria if they killed in combat, felt their
actions were unforgivable, and believed that God had abandoned them.
The lack of resiliency among soldiers who met this definition was alarming,
said Dr. Irene Harris, the VA psychologist leading the research.
"Basically, [they feel] at my spiritual functioning level, I don't think I
belong here in the world. I'm not worth it. I have a sense that I should not
be here.''
The moral consequences of war on the individual psyche have been examined
for centuries; the ancient Indian poem Mahabharata and the 4th-century
writings of St. Augustine asked when warriors were justified in killing and
warfare.
The term moral injury wasn't outlined until 2009, though, when researchers
at the VA's National Center for PTSD in Boston found evidence of
long-lasting impairment in soldiers who had used lethal force or
participated in wartime atrocities.
Moral injury doesn't always result from acts committed, Harris said.
In some cases, inaction can leave equally deep scars.
<snip>
Part of confronting moral injury, Harris said, is persuading returning
soldiers to let go of the guilt they have literally mounted on themselves
during deployments as a defense mechanism against the terrors they face.
"They will convince themselves that a horrible situation was their fault. 'I
didn't use my combat skills well enough and my buddy died,' " Harris said.
"It gets them through that situation without feeling helpless. But the price
when they get home -- using a false sense of guilt to try and stay in
control -- that eats them alive."
Clinical trial
Healing that spiritual distress is the goal of an ongoing clinical trial at
the Minneapolis VA involving 150 veterans with PTSD.
Half are being placed in standard group therapy at area churches and
community -centers, and half are attending -sessions with specific spiritual
components.
An earlier pilot study by Harris found the spiritually based group therapy
to be safe.
Now the goal is to find out if the sessions that focus on spirituality cause
greater reductions in guilt, shame and spiritual distress.
A religious conflict isn't necessarily at the root of moral injury, but it
is a common one when considering that 90 percent of veterans believe in a
higher power.
Harris said her survey research from the National Guard showed moral injury
among soldiers from different faiths, though she declined to identify
whether it appeared more problematic among any particular religious or
demographic group.
"I would not want that to be misinterpreted," she said.
Timm, the National Guard chaplain, said he will never forget the looks in
the eyes of the two soldiers who had shot the unarmed driver in Iraq in
2006.
<snip>
In counseling these soldiers, Timm said, it was sometimes necessary to
simply move past the question of whether the killing in combat was just.
In the Christian tradition, he noted, God forgives those who ask for
forgiveness.
"You guys have heard that before," he recalled telling the soldiers in Iraq.
"but it's going to have to sink in at a whole new level, isn't it?"
Now, supervising the seven chaplains serving Minnesota Guard units, Timm
said he has become more deliberate as he counsels soldiers preparing for
deployments.
Military training by nature has a way of desensitizing troops to the use of
lethal force almost of necessity.
Trainers might use the term "kinetic military action" rather than terms such
as killing or lethal force.
This helps soldiers prepare for war, and the reflexive need to use lethal
force to carry out missions and protect themselves.
But sometimes -soldiers overlook hard questions about whether their beliefs
are consistent with those duties.
Advising a group of Minnesota Guard members before their 2012 deployment to
a detention camp in Afghanistan, Timm asked the soldiers to contemplate what
they would do if a prisoner tried to harm them, and how they would feel
afterward.
"Whatever your faith tradition is," he remembered telling them, "you had
better be able to handle the life and death stuff."
Clergy trained to gain trust
The Minnesota National Guard was a leader, nationally, with its Yellow
Ribbon program to help soldiers return from deployments to their jobs,
families and communities.
That campaign also now trains local clergy on counseling returning soldiers
and gaining their trust. Timm and Major Buddy Winn -- a full-time support
chaplain for the Minnesota Guard -- trained a group of central Minnesota
pastors at Camp Ripley in Little Falls last week.
Soldiers returning to Army bases have chaplains who have probably shared the
combat experience, but Guard members returning to civilian settings might
not seek help from pastors who haven't "been there," Winn said.
But with the Guard chaplains spread thin -- Timm serves as pastor in a
Lutheran church in Barron, Wis. -- community religious leaders need to
become more of a resource.
"Pain is pain," Winn said.
If moral injury can be measured and treated, Harris said, there are reasons
for optimism.
Soldiers with moral injuries who confront their religious beliefs and come
to understand them often resolve their guilt and end up with stronger
spirituality and faith.
"They're actually better and stronger at the end of it," she said.
Doble, the VA peer support volunteer, spent 30 years pushing aside the
painful memories of Vietnam and ignoring the contradictions that emerged
from his own religious beliefs.
Having found stability in his life -- and resolving the spiritual questions
that had been punishing him -- Doble said he wants to share the experience
with other veterans.
"I was ashamed where there is no shame," he said, "and I want people to know
that."
killing in combat leaves lasting spiritual wounds" by Jeremy Olson.
Here are some excerpts:
[begin excerpt]
Those kinds of deadly wartime encounters -- and their imprints on soldiers'
consciences -- are the focus of a new movement among military medical
researchers to study "moral injuries," the invisible scars on soldiers who
believe they have committed condemnable acts.
Psychologists at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis are at the forefront
of the work, helping to define moral injury, examining how it aggravates
mental disorders, and testing whether an experimental form of group therapy
can heal such wounds of the spirit.
A study of survey results for 814 Minnesota National Guard members who
served in Iraq over the past decade showed that those who experienced moral
injury had higher levels of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD).
Moral injury generally refers to any type of guilt, shame, or depression
that arises from actions that may have violated deeply held beliefs. But for
this study, which was presented at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center last
month, soldiers met the criteria if they killed in combat, felt their
actions were unforgivable, and believed that God had abandoned them.
The lack of resiliency among soldiers who met this definition was alarming,
said Dr. Irene Harris, the VA psychologist leading the research.
"Basically, [they feel] at my spiritual functioning level, I don't think I
belong here in the world. I'm not worth it. I have a sense that I should not
be here.''
The moral consequences of war on the individual psyche have been examined
for centuries; the ancient Indian poem Mahabharata and the 4th-century
writings of St. Augustine asked when warriors were justified in killing and
warfare.
The term moral injury wasn't outlined until 2009, though, when researchers
at the VA's National Center for PTSD in Boston found evidence of
long-lasting impairment in soldiers who had used lethal force or
participated in wartime atrocities.
Moral injury doesn't always result from acts committed, Harris said.
In some cases, inaction can leave equally deep scars.
<snip>
Part of confronting moral injury, Harris said, is persuading returning
soldiers to let go of the guilt they have literally mounted on themselves
during deployments as a defense mechanism against the terrors they face.
"They will convince themselves that a horrible situation was their fault. 'I
didn't use my combat skills well enough and my buddy died,' " Harris said.
"It gets them through that situation without feeling helpless. But the price
when they get home -- using a false sense of guilt to try and stay in
control -- that eats them alive."
Clinical trial
Healing that spiritual distress is the goal of an ongoing clinical trial at
the Minneapolis VA involving 150 veterans with PTSD.
Half are being placed in standard group therapy at area churches and
community -centers, and half are attending -sessions with specific spiritual
components.
An earlier pilot study by Harris found the spiritually based group therapy
to be safe.
Now the goal is to find out if the sessions that focus on spirituality cause
greater reductions in guilt, shame and spiritual distress.
A religious conflict isn't necessarily at the root of moral injury, but it
is a common one when considering that 90 percent of veterans believe in a
higher power.
Harris said her survey research from the National Guard showed moral injury
among soldiers from different faiths, though she declined to identify
whether it appeared more problematic among any particular religious or
demographic group.
"I would not want that to be misinterpreted," she said.
Timm, the National Guard chaplain, said he will never forget the looks in
the eyes of the two soldiers who had shot the unarmed driver in Iraq in
2006.
<snip>
In counseling these soldiers, Timm said, it was sometimes necessary to
simply move past the question of whether the killing in combat was just.
In the Christian tradition, he noted, God forgives those who ask for
forgiveness.
"You guys have heard that before," he recalled telling the soldiers in Iraq.
"but it's going to have to sink in at a whole new level, isn't it?"
Now, supervising the seven chaplains serving Minnesota Guard units, Timm
said he has become more deliberate as he counsels soldiers preparing for
deployments.
Military training by nature has a way of desensitizing troops to the use of
lethal force almost of necessity.
Trainers might use the term "kinetic military action" rather than terms such
as killing or lethal force.
This helps soldiers prepare for war, and the reflexive need to use lethal
force to carry out missions and protect themselves.
But sometimes -soldiers overlook hard questions about whether their beliefs
are consistent with those duties.
Advising a group of Minnesota Guard members before their 2012 deployment to
a detention camp in Afghanistan, Timm asked the soldiers to contemplate what
they would do if a prisoner tried to harm them, and how they would feel
afterward.
"Whatever your faith tradition is," he remembered telling them, "you had
better be able to handle the life and death stuff."
Clergy trained to gain trust
The Minnesota National Guard was a leader, nationally, with its Yellow
Ribbon program to help soldiers return from deployments to their jobs,
families and communities.
That campaign also now trains local clergy on counseling returning soldiers
and gaining their trust. Timm and Major Buddy Winn -- a full-time support
chaplain for the Minnesota Guard -- trained a group of central Minnesota
pastors at Camp Ripley in Little Falls last week.
Soldiers returning to Army bases have chaplains who have probably shared the
combat experience, but Guard members returning to civilian settings might
not seek help from pastors who haven't "been there," Winn said.
But with the Guard chaplains spread thin -- Timm serves as pastor in a
Lutheran church in Barron, Wis. -- community religious leaders need to
become more of a resource.
"Pain is pain," Winn said.
If moral injury can be measured and treated, Harris said, there are reasons
for optimism.
Soldiers with moral injuries who confront their religious beliefs and come
to understand them often resolve their guilt and end up with stronger
spirituality and faith.
"They're actually better and stronger at the end of it," she said.
Doble, the VA peer support volunteer, spent 30 years pushing aside the
painful memories of Vietnam and ignoring the contradictions that emerged
from his own religious beliefs.
Having found stability in his life -- and resolving the spiritual questions
that had been punishing him -- Doble said he wants to share the experience
with other veterans.
"I was ashamed where there is no shame," he said, "and I want people to know
that."
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