Study to examine if imaging the morally injured brain could bring about better treatments
For more than 18 months our healthcare workers have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic with many experiencing mental health issues as a result.
One such concern for health care workers is moral injury, which is an injury to an individuals’ moral conscious, producing intense emotional guilt and shame.
Now a team of researchers from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University are looking at how imaging the brain could help lead to better treatments.
“We are trying to look closely at what happens in the brain when a person recalls a moral injury event,” says Dr. Ruth Lanius with Lawson and Western.
“By understanding the changes happening in the brain, we may be better able to treat individuals suffering from moral injury.”
Lanius and her team will be working with about 60 health care workers in the new study.
Each participant undergoes a MRI scan at the start of the study.
Following eight weeks of treatment the participant will undergo another MRI scan to see how the moral injury changes and possibly resolves with treatment.
“I think once we help resolve the visceral distress, we will also see the negative thinking patterns settle down,” said Lanius.
She adds that seeing the injury in a scan can be validating for health care workers to physically see their injury.
The goal of the research team is to better understand what happens in the brain as it pertains to the moral injury.
“We have to help our health care workers heal from the tremendous hardships they often endure.”
Health care workers are still being recruited for this study. For information on the study follow this link.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Countries struggle to draft 'pandemic treaty' to avoid mistakes made during COVID
After the coronavirus pandemic triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organization and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. Years later, countries are still struggling to come up with an agreed-upon plan for how the world might respond to the next global outbreak.
NEW Iconic Canadian song turns 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Broadcaster and commentator Rex Murphy dead at 77: National Post
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.
Whooping cough outbreak declared in Newfoundland
Health officials say there is an outbreak of whooping cough in eastern Newfoundland.
Miss Teen USA steps down just days after Miss USA's resignation
Miss Teen USA resigned Wednesday, sending further shock waves through the pageant community just days after Miss USA said she would relinquish her crown.