One Health

"Moral injury—psychological harm incurred from committing, witnessing, or being subject to actions that violate one’s moral code—has officially been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), thanks to research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The APA included “moral problem” in the newest version of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the handbook for classifying and diagnosing mental health conditions used by U.S. mental health care providers."

Link to article: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

I think this is a really important addition to the DSM as moral distress can have really serious consequences for our self-worth and how we see ourselves. It can be really hard to face a moral dilemma, especially when a situation is forcing you to re-evaluate your values and beliefs. It can definitely cause a lot of internal conflict, making you question your life's purpose, spiritual beliefs, and sense of belonging within your community.

How do you feel about this addition to the DSM? What other kinds of mental health conditions do you think are overlooked?

-------------------------------------------


------------------------------
Kayla Anderson
Veterinary Social Worker
Program for Pet Health Equity
------------------------------

I think this addition was long overdue! I have done work around moral injury and moral resilience in health care providers, and I think the same issues apply in the animal care/welfare spaces. Moral distress often gets conflated with terms like "burnout", but this does not capture the gravity of the types of situations experienced and how they eat away at one's integrity and morals. 

I think we also see this same issue when talking about resilience. There's general resilience, but 'moral resilience' is a different construct altogether. I think it's really important to differentiate these terms so we can best target approaches to promote moral resilience and reduce moral distress. 

------------------------------
Katie Nelson
Nurse Scientist
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
MD
------------------------------

I would agree with Katie, long overdue! I rather wish that ASO's, veterinarians, or any other public servant who often comes into job obligations v moral obligations and has to be a part of vicarious trauma had mandatory mental health checks ... I think our worlds have gotten much better about the transparency of mental health conditions/concerns and helping people feel empowered to get help and recognize their own symptoms... But I worry we aren't doing enough for those who stoic through things (guilty as charged).

------------------------------
Rachel Ide
Animal Services Director
Young-Williams Animal Center
TN
------------------------------