John R. Gregg
@johnrgregg.bsky.social
Adoptee living with a mental illness & substance use disorder. Addiction professional with focus on family preservation. Supporting displaced people on their recovery journey.
Pinned
John R. Gregg
@johnrgregg.bsky.social
· Mar 7
I finally have migrated here and am looking to connect with adoptees, FFY, alcoholics, addicts & mentally ill folks to learn from and be in community with.
In past 2 months I’ve worked with SEVEN adopted men in their recovery from substance abuse. Three of them have also had their own children lost to adoption. It’s pretty eye-opening. The trauma of adoption is being passed down generationally from what I see. Why does the public not discuss this? 🥚
May 13, 2025 at 4:00 PM
In past 2 months I’ve worked with SEVEN adopted men in their recovery from substance abuse. Three of them have also had their own children lost to adoption. It’s pretty eye-opening. The trauma of adoption is being passed down generationally from what I see. Why does the public not discuss this? 🥚
A fucking travesty what they’re doing to public media.
May 8, 2025 at 6:18 PM
A fucking travesty what they’re doing to public media.
Imagine telling a cancer patient that they are not trying hard enough to get better.
If you are having problems in recovery, try other things. It’s not you, you just haven’t found the right treatment yet. It isn’t one-size-fits-all, there are lots of way to recover.
If you are having problems in recovery, try other things. It’s not you, you just haven’t found the right treatment yet. It isn’t one-size-fits-all, there are lots of way to recover.
A substance use disorder is only disease that I can think of that when the treatment doesn’t work, the patient is blamed. The abstinence model led me to years of shame & guilt for “not trying hard enough”.
Patient blaming in addiction treatment is a big problem.
Patient blaming in addiction treatment is a big problem.
March 10, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Imagine telling a cancer patient that they are not trying hard enough to get better.
If you are having problems in recovery, try other things. It’s not you, you just haven’t found the right treatment yet. It isn’t one-size-fits-all, there are lots of way to recover.
If you are having problems in recovery, try other things. It’s not you, you just haven’t found the right treatment yet. It isn’t one-size-fits-all, there are lots of way to recover.
Would the adoptee community find a thread on the various recovery programs available other than AA, with a brief overview, links to resources, pros & cons and personal experiences helpful? I know of about a dozen, some that are not widely known and some that can be done online. 🥚
March 8, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Would the adoptee community find a thread on the various recovery programs available other than AA, with a brief overview, links to resources, pros & cons and personal experiences helpful? I know of about a dozen, some that are not widely known and some that can be done online. 🥚
It’s not just lack of medical records or knowledge of adoption trauma that hindered my recovery. It was adoption ITSELF. I was conditioned to always be a likable person or people would reject me, so in treatment I would minimize or lie to therapists out of fear of rejection. Anyone else the same? 🥚
March 8, 2025 at 7:10 PM
It’s not just lack of medical records or knowledge of adoption trauma that hindered my recovery. It was adoption ITSELF. I was conditioned to always be a likable person or people would reject me, so in treatment I would minimize or lie to therapists out of fear of rejection. Anyone else the same? 🥚
It’s a funny meme, but actually is a lot more relatable to many folks who aren’t down with the God thing in 12-Step programs. Myself included….because THIS I get.
March 8, 2025 at 6:14 PM
It’s a funny meme, but actually is a lot more relatable to many folks who aren’t down with the God thing in 12-Step programs. Myself included….because THIS I get.
Was just listening to podcast interview with one of my favorite musicians, Mike Patton (greatest vocalist of my generation imo), where he says “being yourself is the easiest thing in the world.”
Love you, Mike, but for adoptees being yourself is literally the HARDEST thing in the world. 🥚
Love you, Mike, but for adoptees being yourself is literally the HARDEST thing in the world. 🥚
March 8, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Was just listening to podcast interview with one of my favorite musicians, Mike Patton (greatest vocalist of my generation imo), where he says “being yourself is the easiest thing in the world.”
Love you, Mike, but for adoptees being yourself is literally the HARDEST thing in the world. 🥚
Love you, Mike, but for adoptees being yourself is literally the HARDEST thing in the world. 🥚
A substance use disorder is only disease that I can think of that when the treatment doesn’t work, the patient is blamed. The abstinence model led me to years of shame & guilt for “not trying hard enough”.
Patient blaming in addiction treatment is a big problem.
Patient blaming in addiction treatment is a big problem.
March 8, 2025 at 4:45 PM
A substance use disorder is only disease that I can think of that when the treatment doesn’t work, the patient is blamed. The abstinence model led me to years of shame & guilt for “not trying hard enough”.
Patient blaming in addiction treatment is a big problem.
Patient blaming in addiction treatment is a big problem.
Reposted by John R. Gregg
“Most electronic health records don’t even have an option to indicate that a patient is adopted or has limited family medical history,” she said. “That’s an easy fix. Adding checkboxes for ‘Adopted’ or ‘Unknown family history’ could make a world of difference in normalizing the experience.”
🥚
🥚
“The medical community thinks about the term adopted as something that only applies to children,” she said.
A reminder that once adopted, always adopted. You'll most often never get your full medical history.🥚
A reminder that once adopted, always adopted. You'll most often never get your full medical history.🥚
No Family History? Why Doctors Need a New Playbook for Adopted Adults. 🥚
March 8, 2025 at 3:20 PM
“Most electronic health records don’t even have an option to indicate that a patient is adopted or has limited family medical history,” she said. “That’s an easy fix. Adding checkboxes for ‘Adopted’ or ‘Unknown family history’ could make a world of difference in normalizing the experience.”
🥚
🥚
Being online discussing adoption with others, it’s easy to get discouraged. But offline, there are positive interactions happening. Even in job interviews! 2nd person I’ve heard from who also discussed adoption while interviewing for a job besides me. 🥚
It's wild, I interviewed (and got) a role in November, and 4 of the 6 interviews somehow ended up as discussions of my adoption. 3 were APs who had come to understand that they interacted with an unethical system. It's not even on my resume!
March 8, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Being online discussing adoption with others, it’s easy to get discouraged. But offline, there are positive interactions happening. Even in job interviews! 2nd person I’ve heard from who also discussed adoption while interviewing for a job besides me. 🥚
Having family mental health history is a privilege of the kept. 🥚
💯 My own story is that I was unable to get a correct mental health diagnosis until after I’d been in recovery for 10 years, because of lack of family history. Only after reunion was diagnosis corrected and I’d been taking medication that made my illness worse. Trust me I hope to talk about that soon
March 8, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Having family mental health history is a privilege of the kept. 🥚
Reposted by John R. Gregg
Asking about adoption at intake alone isn't enough. The intake form needs to reflect "adopted, family history unknown" as a possible response. Practitioners need to understand what to do with the information. "Unknown" is NOT the same as "no history of." She's got some work to do to make it right.
March 8, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Asking about adoption at intake alone isn't enough. The intake form needs to reflect "adopted, family history unknown" as a possible response. Practitioners need to understand what to do with the information. "Unknown" is NOT the same as "no history of." She's got some work to do to make it right.
🥚Communicating with Pinellas County Intergroup. Closed Adoptee AA meeting coming soon to Pinellas County. Already got a building.
Will post thread soon on how to start one in your community. Trust me…we’re all over the rooms. Let’s build a spot for us.
Will post thread soon on how to start one in your community. Trust me…we’re all over the rooms. Let’s build a spot for us.
March 7, 2025 at 11:14 PM
🥚Communicating with Pinellas County Intergroup. Closed Adoptee AA meeting coming soon to Pinellas County. Already got a building.
Will post thread soon on how to start one in your community. Trust me…we’re all over the rooms. Let’s build a spot for us.
Will post thread soon on how to start one in your community. Trust me…we’re all over the rooms. Let’s build a spot for us.
Reposted by John R. Gregg
Many of us have suffered deeply from the trauma of adoption, resulting in addictions as a way to cope with the pain. We need a group specifically for adoptees to recover from addiction! Treatment centers and 12-step recovery rooms are filled with adoptees!
March 7, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Many of us have suffered deeply from the trauma of adoption, resulting in addictions as a way to cope with the pain. We need a group specifically for adoptees to recover from addiction! Treatment centers and 12-step recovery rooms are filled with adoptees!
Nitazene is the next escalation in the opioid epidemic. Developed in the 50’s as a morphine replacement, nitazenes can be 40x more potent than fentanyl, so powerful that the FDA didn’t approve them. It’s inexpensive to make in a lab. Bad, bad shit that’s going to kill a lot of folks. 😢
March 7, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Nitazene is the next escalation in the opioid epidemic. Developed in the 50’s as a morphine replacement, nitazenes can be 40x more potent than fentanyl, so powerful that the FDA didn’t approve them. It’s inexpensive to make in a lab. Bad, bad shit that’s going to kill a lot of folks. 😢
Reposted by John R. Gregg
Adoption IS trauma and needs to be recognized as such.
#adoptees are overrepresented in recovery programs for a reason. Recognizing adoption trauma aids in recovery.
#adoptees are overrepresented in recovery programs for a reason. Recognizing adoption trauma aids in recovery.
My boss said that they don’t ask about adoption during intake. I think I’ve convinced her that is a mistake. The evidence of trauma>addiction & adoption>trauma is plentiful. But recovery professionals still largely haven’t seen connection and are STILL under serving their adopted patients. 🥚
March 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Adoption IS trauma and needs to be recognized as such.
#adoptees are overrepresented in recovery programs for a reason. Recognizing adoption trauma aids in recovery.
#adoptees are overrepresented in recovery programs for a reason. Recognizing adoption trauma aids in recovery.
My boss said that they don’t ask about adoption during intake. I think I’ve convinced her that is a mistake. The evidence of trauma>addiction & adoption>trauma is plentiful. But recovery professionals still largely haven’t seen connection and are STILL under serving their adopted patients. 🥚
March 7, 2025 at 7:00 PM
My boss said that they don’t ask about adoption during intake. I think I’ve convinced her that is a mistake. The evidence of trauma>addiction & adoption>trauma is plentiful. But recovery professionals still largely haven’t seen connection and are STILL under serving their adopted patients. 🥚
One thing I’m learning in training for my new job is that drug courts haven’t changed a bit (I failed out of 2 in the 90’s). They still control where you live, where you work & basically everything else and end up being longer than probation.
March 7, 2025 at 6:05 PM
One thing I’m learning in training for my new job is that drug courts haven’t changed a bit (I failed out of 2 in the 90’s). They still control where you live, where you work & basically everything else and end up being longer than probation.
Thanks for the warm welcome #adoptees Since I haven’t really talked to adoptees online in some time, I wanted to share the below news. My boss said she knew she was going to hire me as soon as she saw my resume because of my lived experience as an adoptee. That’s huge!!! They’re learning!!! 🥚
March 7, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Thanks for the warm welcome #adoptees Since I haven’t really talked to adoptees online in some time, I wanted to share the below news. My boss said she knew she was going to hire me as soon as she saw my resume because of my lived experience as an adoptee. That’s huge!!! They’re learning!!! 🥚
I finally have migrated here and am looking to connect with adoptees, FFY, alcoholics, addicts & mentally ill folks to learn from and be in community with.
March 7, 2025 at 3:34 PM
I finally have migrated here and am looking to connect with adoptees, FFY, alcoholics, addicts & mentally ill folks to learn from and be in community with.