Soldier-Center

Guilt a top cause of PTSD, study shows

A leading cause of post-traumatic stress disorder is guilt that troops experience due to moral dilemmas faced in combat, according to preliminary findings of a study of active-duty Marines.

The conflicts that troops feel can range from survivor guilt from living through an attack where other troops died, to witnessing or participating in the unintentional killing of women or children, said researchers involved in the study.

“How do they come to terms with that? They have to forgive themselves for pulling the trigger,” said retired Navy Capt. Bill Nash, a psychiatrist and study co-author.

The idea of “moral injury” as a cause of PTSD is new to psychiatry. The American Psychiatric Association is only now considering new diagnostic criteria for the disorder that would include feelings of shame and guilt, said David Spiegel, a member of the working group rewriting the PTSD section.

Article published in Navy Times and Army Times, November 25, 2011