Quoted in The NY Post:TikTok ruined my kid’s life — now I’m suing it with 5,000 other parents (Jan. 18, 2024)

“The phenomenon of ‘TikTok brain’ results from watching personalized videos by using an algorithm designed to accurately predict which content is preferred to engage with,” Dr. Nina Cerfolio, a nationally recognized psychiatrist and trauma expert, explained to The Post. “There is an increase in dopamine within the brain’s reward center when using TikTok with the brain becoming addicted to ongoing dopamine secretion.” Cerfolio said that this often “encourages teens to continue to use the site in order to feel ‘good’ having secured their entry into the herd.”

“This ‘good’ feeling paradoxically damages their belief in their own uniqueness and originality,” she added.

The average American will unlock their smartphone at least 150 times a day, Cerfolio said — and it got to the point where Edwards’ daughter was simply addicted to TikTok.

“Many of us have become so dependent and addicted to our phones that we have forgotten how to function without them,” Cerfolio said. “The world is no longer your oyster, it is your screen.”

Cerfolio explained that screen addiction is even more hindering for “teens whose brains are still developing” and they’re “even more susceptible to the addictive behavior encouraged by TikTok practices.”

However, Cerfolio cautioned not to “throw out the baby with the bathwater,” saying that there are some TikTok trends that can be beneficial to our mental health — such as silent walking, which “allows you to unplug from the strain of daily life and tune in to being more present.”

“There is much useful information on meditation and wellness on TikTok,” she explained. “That being said, you must be alert that a lot of information is not checked for accuracy and may provide false information.”

“Chosen by a Whale," The Spirit of Change, (December 25, 2023)—Excerpt from Psychoanalytic and Spiritual Perspectives on Terrorism: Desire for Destruction (Routledge, 2023)

OpEd in The Daily Beast, The Only True Revenge for Terrorism Is Achieving Peace (Nov. 26, 2023

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OpeEd - Re “Parkland Gunman Is Sentenced to Life in Prison” (front page, Oct. 14 2022)

The New York Times / Read Full Article

"I don't have words," Osmanov said. "I have too much emotion." "I love to do any sports because it brings me back to normal life," Mezhiev said. "After two years of e-mailing, calling and five or six failures with their exit visas, they're finally here," said Dr. Nina Cerfolio.

The Daily News / Read Full Article

As a result of my becoming ill, I also experienced a spiritual awakening, which consisted of an active awareness of transcendent aspects within myself that created a profound interconnectedness with something much larger than myself, be it God or the Cosmos, that was essential to my recovery. Through my spiritual growth, anthrax ironically provided a path, for both myself and my patients, to shift from submission (signified by the need to either acquiesce or rebel) to surrender (signified by being open to an expanded by the subjectivity of the other.) In this journey, we become able to uncover our authentic souls.

Cambridge Press, Loss, surrender and spiritual awakening, Palliative and Supportive Care / Read Full Article

They thought I was just another lazy American, until I finished first in the Half.

National Geographic, There + Back / Read Full Article

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Feeling "meh"? Doctors say it could be an underdiagnosed disorder.

"Persistent depressive disorder basically consists of feeling sad or empty," said board-certified psychiatrist Dr. Nina Cerfolio. "It's not where people may be so impaired they can't get out of bed."

Cerfolio says the past couple of years have been difficult for many; personal struggles aside, there's been multiple wars across the world, inflation driving costs here at home, and the COVID pandemic -- all factors contributing to our mental health.

"I would say since the pandemic, we've had more incidents of persistent depressive disorder in our country," she said.

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