Zelenskyy shows the physical damage that war can inflict on the body: NPR
President of Ukraine / Broadcasting Agency / Anadolu via Getty Images; Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP via Getty Images
When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inspected the devastation in Bucha this month – where the bodies of civilians lay in the streets and buildings were destroyed – his haunting face seemed to reflect the brutality of his life. Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The 44-year-old’s normally shaved face has a shaggy beard, a distressed forehead, and eyes with heavy bags underneath.
According to Glenn Patrick Doyle, a psychologist specializing in trauma, they are characteristic physical signs that can appear in anyone who is experiencing intense trauma and stress – especially in times of war. according to Glenn Patrick Doyle, a trauma psychologist.
Injury and stress wreak havoc on the human body after long-term exposure, Doyle told NPR. Over time, sleep, attention, memory, mood, appearance, and more are all affected.
Ukrainians, especially Zelenskyy, are likely to experience these symptoms as they struggle against the Russian invasion and the constant blaring of air raid sirens and many fleeing their homes, he said. .
“The thing to understand about trauma and the body is that stress responses can attack every ‘normal’ function of our body,” he says. “The bodily processes that help us focus and regulate on a normal day are suspended during the stressor’s time and replaced by processes designed to help us get through the experience. stress experience.”
As head of his country, Zelenskyy is in a particularly unique position and can have lasting effects on health.
Impact of war on presidents
Doyle says that presidents and other leaders of nations, like Zelenskyy, are often in an even lonely and stressful place, which can manifest in physical transformation while they are in office.
Many things have been written about how American presidents age while in office. Often, photos from their inauguration and their final days in the White House are compared. Presidents tend to show more lines, more gray hair, or heavier bags under their eyes than they did in their first days in the White House.
Being the leader of any country is a stressful gig. However, experts told NPR, it added to the conflict at work and increased stress.
“Presidents are in a unique position,” said Doyle.
Very few people around them understand the pressures they are under, and there are also very few people they can confide in to relieve the pressure, he said.
“They cannot waive their leadership roles or responsibilities, especially in times of crisis,” he told NPR via email. “Imagine what would happen to even the best-built, best-maintained race car if it was NEVER allowed to slow down or refuel – that car WILL stop working fine, the longer the red line.”
President Abraham Lincoln is a perfect example of this, says Jonathan W. White, American studies professor and author of House Built by Slaves: African-American Visitors to the Lincoln White House.
He told NPR, “I think Abraham Lincoln’s presidency is more than anyone else’s who has ever held the office. Lincoln’s four years in the White House hurt him. “In 1860, he was. look young and strong. By 1865, he looked almost like a different person – emaciated and old.”
During his presidency, America was divided by the Civil War.
“Lincoln has faced near-unforeseen pressure during his presidency,” White said. “Not only was he responsible for waging a war to save the Union – a war that destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives – but he was also involved in the minutiae of running the federal government. “
White said that by the end of his first term in late 1864, Lincoln had become more short-tempered and excitable.
White told NPR via email: “One of his personal secretaries, William O. Stoddard, said that the relentless work of the presidency put his nervous system under permanent stress and” began to seriously affect his health and psyche. Even his short temper was affected, and irritation completely alien to his natural personality was beginning to manifest as a symptom of an over-tasked brain. ‘”
The science behind trauma
When we experience physical or emotional stress, the human body produces cortisol, the main stress hormone. Dr. Nicole Colgrove, otolaryngologist at Virginia Hospital Center, told NPR that it contributes to the physical changes the body experiences under long-term stress.
Cortisol accelerates the loss of skin elasticity, leading to sagging or sunkenness, she says. It also contributes to hair turning gray or white under stress.
“There are many other systemic effects of cortisol, such as increased blood sugar, blood pressure and heart rate, altered metabolism, and decreased immunity,” she says.
Evgeniy Maloletka / AP
Colgrove and Doyle say that the more changes a person experiences outside of their physical body, the longer they are exposed to stress and trauma.
“Over time, it’s as if our value system or actual personality is replaced by a traumatic response, which can make living and having relationships nearly impossible,” says Doyle. presentable”.
That transformation occurs similarly regardless of age, according to Colgrove.
“Many trauma survivors go through their experiences with negative beliefs about their worth or effectiveness,” he says. They often believe that the world is dangerous, unpredictable and not worth living.
Long-term psychological disturbances can also develop from this point.
But there is hope with the right care.
“Psychologically, as people start to heal, I’ve seen people regain their sense of humor and the ability to connect and trust others, both of which are signs that healing is really starting. first happened,” Doyle said. “But it can be a long road. A long, very long road.”