2 days ago
Moral injury storybook teaches families 'coping strategies'
The author of a storybook written to help families cope together after traumatising events says she hopes it will teach people "coping strategies".Dad's Moral Injury Cloud has been co-written by Dr Vicki Williamson, a senior lecturer in the University of Bath's department of psychology, for families affected by moral is the psychological distress that occurs when a person commits, fails to prevent or witnesses an act that goes against their moral Williamson said: "The thing we know about families where a parent has experienced trauma is that it's really difficult for parents to know what to say and how to speak to their children about it."
She said the free book is the "first resource" for families affected by moral to Dr Williamson, about 70% of the population will experience a "traumatic or really difficult event" in their life less than 5% will be diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the "same is true for moral injury"."It's used to describe this very intense distress you can experience after an event that goes against your core values," she said."This may be experienced by people in the armed forces, police, prison service, healthcare or many other occupations that confront challenging situations."
She said moral injury "typically occurs" either because of something you have done, you failed to do, or because of a betrayal by someone possibly in a position of authority. A vet putting down a healthy animal which is unable to race any more is one example of moral injury, she Williamson said parents can often feel a "lot of shame and a lot of guilt" around moral injury, and may withdraw from the people they love."They can struggle with anger, and controlling outbursts and they might be really worried about their children - they do overprotective parenting behaviour," she said."Our book provides a framework to talk about challenging experiences, difficult feelings and strategies so families can cope together."
