Moral injury check (MIOS)
A quick, private check based on the MIOS. Free, scored on your device, and yours to keep.
What this check measures
Moral injury is what can be left behind when something happens that goes against your deepest sense of right and wrong. It is not the same as fear, which is what a trauma screen measures. It is closer to shame, betrayal and lost trust. The fourteen questions ask how much you agree with statements about yourself and about other people, thinking about the last month.
How the scoring works
Each answer is worth 0 for strongly disagree up to 4 for strongly agree, so the total runs from 0 to 56. The researchers drew these ranges from a national study of veterans. Their own instruction is to call them probable rather than certain:
| Score | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| 0-25 | Below the range these researchers flag |
| 26-30 | Probable moral distress |
| 31-56 | Probable moral injury |
| Area | Questions |
|---|---|
| Shame-related | 1-14 |
| Trust-violation-related | 2-11 |
What it cannot tell you
This cannot diagnose anything, and there is no interview or test that settles whether someone has moral injury. The researchers say so plainly. It also cannot see the event, the context, or what you have already done about it. What it can do is give a name to something people often carry without one.
Something went against your deepest sense of right and wrong, and it has not settled since. This is a free, fourteen-question check built on the Moral Injury Outcome Scale, developed by an international consortium. It names what can be left behind: shame that turns inward, and trust that turns outward. About three minutes, scored privately in your browser. The result names a probable range rather than a diagnosis.
Questions people ask
Is moral injury the same as PTSD?
No, although they often travel together. PTSD is built around fear and threat. Moral injury is built around what something meant: guilt, shame, betrayal, and the loss of trust in people or in a moral order. Someone can have one, the other, or both.
Do I have to have been in the military?
No. The scale was developed with veterans and serving members. The ranges here come from a study of US veterans, so that is the group they best describe. But moral injury is not a military idea. It turns up in first responders, health care, clergy, the trades, and in ordinary life.
Why does it say probable?
Because that is what the researchers who built it asked us to say. There is no gold-standard interview for moral injury, so these ranges mark statistical unusualness rather than a confirmed condition. Probable is honest; anything stronger would not be.
What are the two parts?
The consortium found that this splits two ways. One turns inward and sounds like shame: I blame myself, I am not who I thought I was. The other turns outward and sounds like lost trust: I have lost faith in people, I am angry all the time. Most people lean one way.
Who sees my answers?
No one. Everything is scored in your browser, and nothing you choose is stored or sent anywhere.
Working on moral injury, with support
Trauma & PTSD therapy
This is a free screening tool, not a diagnosis. It can help you notice patterns and decide whether to reach out. Your answers stay on your device; nothing is sent or saved.