Am I the only nerd with Complex-PTSD? If not, would you like to nerd out with me for a bit? This is a little bonus article to this week’s visual aid wrap-up using seven various hormone charts. Now we can see how to use the hormone charts to check in with ourselves and others. Let’s use someone famous as our case study. Since Ulysses S. Grant was the subject of my latest history comic (here), and we know that he struggled with alcoholism and that he smoked twenty cigars a day, we can use the last chart I showed you in that article to study his hormonal imbalance.
Ulysses S. Grant: A Case Study
Now let’s start with just the clues I was able to fit in his history comic:
- Alcoholism and chain smoking
- Raised by a narcissistic father
- Lacked confidence and self-esteem
- Clung to a strong code of ethics for self-assurance, even to his detriment
- A target for swindlers throughout his life
- Problems asserting himself in the world
- Chronic migraines
- Depression
So, from this information, we can start highlighting Grant’s symptoms.
So, what about Grant’s cortisol levels? And how can we determine his dopamine levels from two little indicators? Well, obviously we need more information.
Beyond Grant’s History Comic
- Dopamine indicators: Besides his failure to assert himself, Grant also lacked administration skills and was easily distracted. Even his bookkeeping was untidy and confusing.
- Low or high norepinephrine? “Cool heads prevail” certainly applied to Grant’s success in the Civil War. He was unusually calm in battle. Sure, having low oxytocin as a “high stress inhibitor” helped. But this is also a third indicator on which level of norepinephrine was responsible for his migraines. Because Grant certainly wasn’t prone to jitteriness (which would be a symptom of it being high).
- Imbalanced cortisol: Grant had recurring bouts of the same medical condition. In his time, it was called “fever and ague.” It mimicked malaria and flu symptoms with fever, chills, sweats, and aches and pains in the joints. The fact that it was the same illness over the course of his life makes me stop and wonder if this was actually an autoimmune disorder that kept flaring up. After all, nineteenth century physicians did not know about autoimmune disorders.
Grant’s Cortisol as He Aged
Who knew that being a U.S. president is more stressful than war? Grant’s story is also proof that as we age, our bodies are less able to handle stress like we could in our youth. Grant maintained a healthy weight throughout most of his life. But by the time he left the presidential office, he was rotund. Then a few years later, he was swindled yet again and lost everything. And that’s when he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Of course we can argue that this will eventually happen to anyone who smokes twenty cigars a day. But once we consider the order of life events, combined with body symptoms, it points to Grant’s cortisol levels raising ever higher until his body could no longer take it.
- High-stress job (president)
- Aging process
- Massive weight gain
- Financially devastated
- Cancer
What we can all learn from Ulysses S. Grant
Well, first, thank you for entertaining my nerd side today. I hope it has given you ideas on how to use one of the hormone charts (one more time, that compilation is here) on yourself. And then, if you’re seeing that you have symptoms of a hormonal imbalance, dare to bring it up with your physician, or even your therapist, for that matter.
In my history comic on Grant, we addressed his programming (his ongoing problems due to his childhood trauma) and how it had a lasting effect on his life. Now here, we have addressed the biological science behind Grant’s programming. Ulysses S. Grant was a great man who, in my opinion, deserved to thrive more than he did. So, it is my hope that you learn the importance of processing our trauma and doing the healing work. It’s the only way to correct our biological science so that we can start living our best life. Because you, dear reader, deserve to thrive in life too.