Combat trauma expert visiting Maine details 'moral injuries' of war

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Thu, 14 May 2015 10:18:35 -0400

Shay coined a new term — “moral injury”— to capture what a PTSD diagnosis leaves out. Some hope that it, too, will join the common lexicon.

The hallmark symptoms of PTSD — nightmares and flashbacks, withdrawal from society and interests, hyper-arousal to anticipated dangers — are useful from an evolutionary perspective but destructive in civilian life, he said.
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/combat-trauma-expert-visiting-maine-details-moral-injuries-of-war-1.345994

Post-traumatic stress disorder has become so familiar among the many difficulties veterans face after returning from war that most know it by its acronym — PTSD. But the diagnosis reflects only part of the broader psychological harm soldiers bring home from the battlefield, according to Dr. Jonathan Shay.