Moral Injury, Mortal Wounds and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Anne Louise Phelan-Adams

Consultative Medical Services, 1724 Sage Lane, Blacksburg, VA, USA

Dr. Anne Louise Phelan-Adams, Consultative Medical Services, 1724 Sage Lane, Blacksburg, VA, USA.

Keywords: COVID-19; Moral Injury; Stigma of Mental Illness; Suicide; Ethical Treatment

Abstract

We are currently fighting a virulent, often deadly, and highly contagious virus, Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 [SARS-CoV2]. This disease, now generally referred to as COVID, arose in the Wuhan district of China at the end of 2019 but has since become a global pandemic with more than 32,000,000 confirmed cases and more than 1,000,000 deaths at the time of this writing.
Coronaviruses are not new but, until recently, most coronaviruses that infect humans caused relatively mild upper respiratory illnesses such as the common cold. However, in 2002, Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome [SARS] virus, a virus endemic in bat populations, jumped to humans causing serious respiratory illnesses, including about 900 deaths, worldwide. In 2012, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome [MERS] virus jumped from dromedary camels to humans and, to date, has also caused around 900 deaths, mostly in the Middle East.

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