Feeling burned out, emotionally numb, checked out, and yet at the same time anxious and unsettled? This is what I’ve been hearing from many professionals. Doesn’t seem to matter if you are from healthcare, global development, education, law, government, or corporate; this experience has become widespread. If this is you, then keep reading.
I don’t think what many people are experiencing is regular burnout, it’s much more. And why is that? I believe it’s in part because we are living in morally injurious times. Times where we are seeing things we know are morally wrong and yet feel completely powerless to stop. These situations occur on a daily basis, domestically and globally, where the word “unprecedented” no longer really means anything.
You may have attended protests, written letters to government officials, made donations to causes you care about and it doesn’t seem to matter. I recently talked to a person who referred to himself as a recovering activist. That’s right, he quit being an activist because he just couldn’t take it anymore, the anguish of seeing day after day things getting worse while he tried in vain to make a difference. He quit, works as a landscaper now. Or you think, if I just just keep working harder, and harder, something will change. Or, maybe I’ll just ignore it.
I hear a lot of people say, “I feel much better since I don’t listen to the news anymore; if something big happens, I’ll hear about it.” Or my favorite “It’s like ground hog day everyday, in the news–nothing changes–well actually things are just getting worse, I don’t even want to know anymore.” And, this is from highly educated professionals, who used to pride themselves on their social conscience…driven by careers of purpose. Maybe you can relate? (Sidebar—while I do believe that limiting news consumption is a healthy strategy, burying your head in the sand is not the solution).
We look away, but yet we can’t, not really. We have been betrayed by institutions, organizations, and leaders we trusted. Institutions and organizations that in some cases we lead. Now some feel duped, and wonder, how did it happen.
That anxiety, underlying distress that you can’t shake, for some it is accompanied by a deep sense of guilt. This guilt, and deep distress it may be the impact of moral injury. You may be asking yourself, “Am I complicit in what is happening in my profession, in society? If I am, then what can I do?”
First, what exactly is moral injury?
Moral injury happens when we participate either by action or inaction in something that violates our own moral principles, and these actions cause harm to others.
Moral injury has an existential impact upon us, going beyond our psychological and physical functioning.
What is the solution and path forward from moral injury? The first step is being able to acknowledge what is happening. Moral injury is real and for those of us who have been in careers devoted to doing good, of making a difference, and for whatever reason you no longer can… you may have sustained moral injury. Sadly none of us is immune, not if you have any values or a moral compass.
Moral injury differs significantly from burnout although the two often do co-occur. Burnout happens when the demands of work or life exceed our physical, mental, or emotional capacity.
Moral injury impacts us at an existential level because it harms our values and sense of purpose. The impact of moral injury has by some been referred to as a soul wound or piercing of the spirit. That’s why the regular approaches to addressing burnout and exhaustion are insufficient. Oh, and PS….retreal, aka denial, it just does not work.
What does work? Based on what is currently in the literature and my own personal experience here is what I have found to be important:
Understand and recognize what has happened to you; name moral injury.
Create a comprehensive and holistic approach to dealing with moral injury.
Engage within your own community to proactively address the situations that cause moral injury.
I’ll be sharing more resources on creating a comprehensive approach in further posts.
photo credit: Amirhosain Gazor
