MASK: Living in the Fracture: Institutional Injury and the Cost of Belonging

What happens when the institution you served becomes the source of your deepest injury?
In MASK: Living in the Fracture, Canadian psychologist and veteran Dr. John J. Whelan explores the unseen wounds left by systems built on loyalty, sacrifice, and silence. Drawing from over three decades of clinical work and research with soldiers and veterans, Whelan introduces the concept of institutional injury—a distinct form of psychological and spiritual harm that arises when identity, trust, and belonging are betrayed by the very structures meant to protect them.

Moving between research, lived experience, and the quiet voices of those who served, MASK illuminates the hidden cost of conformity and the human struggle to remain whole after the uniform is gone. It is both an unflinching critique of institutional culture and a compassionate invitation to confront what we have become—individually and collectively—in the name of duty.

“Canada benefits greatly from Dr. Whelan’s continued commitment to the defence community after his own military service. By combining lived experience with clinical expertise, he provides invaluable insight into the cultural realities of military and veteran life.”
— Dr. Karen Breeck, CD

““This text changes how we think about our Service… a game-changer for service providers, policymakers, veterans, and families.”
— Prof. Ben Wadham, Flinders University

Unflinching yet humane, MASK challenges the broken-soldier narrative and demands that we confront the institutional forces that shape—and too often injure—those who serve.

For those who have worn the uniform—and those who seek to understand them—this book reveals the courage it takes to remove the mask and live in the fracture.