Exploring the Impact of Adoption on Mental Health: Insights from Adoptees
03/24/23 • 39 min
Exploring the Impact of Adoption on Mental Health: Insights from Adoptees
Why adoptees are more likely to attempt suicide
Trigger Warning: Suicide, Suicidal ideation, Involuntary hospitalization
Adoptees are 4x more likely to commit suicide, in this episode we unpack why that is. Being an adoptee is a lifelong sentence, we have to cosplay as someone else’s child, we belong almost nowhere - and on top of all that, we invest emotional labor educating therapists about our mental health.
Throughout the episode, we answer questions you’ve asked us on Twitter about adoptee mental health.
“To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” - James Baldwin
What we discussed
(00:00) Content Warning
(00:47) Should the state fund adoptee therapy?
(02:21) Cosplaying as someone else’s child
(07:40) Why adoptees struggle with mental health
(11:31) Why holidays suck for us
(13:23) Does sharing our experiences help?
(19:26) The anger inside of us
(24:07) Finding an adoptee-competent therapist OR Finding a therapist that understands adoption OR Finding a therapist you don’t have to teach
(29:10) What works (other than therapy)?
(32:57) Societal gaslighting against adoptees
Links
Follow us on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Tiktok
Learn more about Lia
Adoptee Therapists: https://growbeyondwords.com/adoptee-therapist-directory/
Credits
Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or e-mail him at [email protected]
Exploring the Impact of Adoption on Mental Health: Insights from Adoptees
Why adoptees are more likely to attempt suicide
Trigger Warning: Suicide, Suicidal ideation, Involuntary hospitalization
Adoptees are 4x more likely to commit suicide, in this episode we unpack why that is. Being an adoptee is a lifelong sentence, we have to cosplay as someone else’s child, we belong almost nowhere - and on top of all that, we invest emotional labor educating therapists about our mental health.
Throughout the episode, we answer questions you’ve asked us on Twitter about adoptee mental health.
“To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” - James Baldwin
What we discussed
(00:00) Content Warning
(00:47) Should the state fund adoptee therapy?
(02:21) Cosplaying as someone else’s child
(07:40) Why adoptees struggle with mental health
(11:31) Why holidays suck for us
(13:23) Does sharing our experiences help?
(19:26) The anger inside of us
(24:07) Finding an adoptee-competent therapist OR Finding a therapist that understands adoption OR Finding a therapist you don’t have to teach
(29:10) What works (other than therapy)?
(32:57) Societal gaslighting against adoptees
Links
Follow us on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Tiktok
Learn more about Lia
Adoptee Therapists: https://growbeyondwords.com/adoptee-therapist-directory/
Credits
Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or e-mail him at [email protected]
Previous Episode
Navigating Parenthood as Adoptees: Insights from Dr. Noelle and Tosha
Adoptees as parents
Parenting as an adoptee
What’s it like when you’re adopted and then become a parent? We discuss the unexpected joys and reliefs of parenting, the mistakes we were almost programmed to make, how parenting can heal us, how to tell your children you’re adopted, and being careful about not placing a burden on our children that they aren’t equipped to carry.
PS: If it isn’t clear yet, we would never put our children up for adoption.
What we discussed
(00:00) How being an adoptee affects the way you parent OR Adoptee parenting patterns
(05:46) Being a helicopter mom
(07:16) “No way I was putting my child up for adoption”
(08:47) Late discovery adoptees
(11:29) Telling your kids you’re adopted
(16:34) Are adoptees better parents?
(20:51) Disadvantages of being an adopted parent OR Biggest regret as an adopted parent
(25:57) Parenting and healing
(31:15) Greatest joy of parenting
(33:55) Advice for adoptive parents
(35:31) Legacy
Links
Follow us on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Tiktok
Learn more about Lia
Credits
Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or e-mail him at [email protected]
Next Episode
Navigating Adoption and Rediscovering Family: Lia's Journey
Navigating Adoption and Rediscovering Family: Lia's Journey
I’m Lia and this is my adoptee origin story from foster care to reuniting with my siblings.
What I shared
(01:02) What I was told about my bio parents
(02:18) What actually happened
(04:59) My adoptive parents
(05:34) My birth father’s side of the story
(06:36) My access to adoption information
(10:04) Accessing my biological family name
(12:33) Meeting my siblings
(19:49) Aspirations for biological relationships
(21:47) What I tell people about my background
(25:21) What’s medical foster care?
(26:35) Death of my foster mom (Ms. Loretta) & my bio mom
Links
Lia’s LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/liaepps
Follow us on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Tiktok
Credits
Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or e-mail him at [email protected]
Adoptees Crossing Lines - Exploring the Impact of Adoption on Mental Health: Insights from Adoptees
Transcript
Lia:
All right, So we're back for another episode this week and we are talking about adopts and mental healt, which I feel like is a really big topic. Um, so I want to start actually with a tweet that I tweeted. I think last week that the state should be paying for therapy for every adopting for life. What I think about that? Do you agree? Do you disagree?
Dr. Noelle:
I absolutely
Lia:
What are your thoughts?
Dr. Noelle:
a hundred and ten percent agree. I think that repara
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