Images of Zelenskyy show the physical toll that trauma and stress can have on the body
Health experts told NPR that long-term exposure to trauma and stress — like that of the war in Ukraine — can impact a person's sleep, memory, mood and physical appearance.
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy toured the devastation in Bucha this month — where bodies of civilians lay in the street and buildings were destroyed — his haunted face seemed to show the toll of Russia's war in Ukraine.
The 44-year-old's normally shaved face was bearded and lined, his forehead scrunched in distress and his eyes with heavy bags underneath.
They are the hallmark physical signs that can appear on anyone who is going through intense trauma and stress — particularly in wartime, according to Glenn Patrick Doyle, a psychologist who specializes in
