Comorbidities of Combat Trauma: Unresolved Grief and Moral Injury

Abstract

This Grounded Theory study explored the effects of complicated grief and moral injury on veterans’ recovery from post-combat trauma. The main finding was that the interaction between the comorbidities seems to be two-fold: the cumulative anger arising from military life and combat experiences has a major impact on recovery from any or all of the co-morbidities irrespective of its source; and avoidance of the distressing emotions associated with any one of conditions leads to veterans avoiding talking about any of them, with obvious detriment to recovery. These conclusions merit further study to inform mental health policy and optimize offered therapy.