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
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Calgary police shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers dealt with a distraught individual. The incident lasted almost 20 hours.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.