The forces of darkness are hard at work, trying to hasten the demise of moral steadfastness and the courage that Americans, especially New Yorkers, have thus far shown.

Please do not listen to them. Be vigilant but do not become paranoid.

We need to continue to display our moral and spiritual strength to the world and to our detractors. Our wonderful noble qualities will be our most powerful weapon and let's be the best we can be at that.

Somebody sent me this joke and for the first time, I've been able to laugh. Let me share it with you. Laughter, after so much pain, is the best medicine. Share it with your friends.

A very pious minister dies and, at the same time, a bus driver dies. They both arrive at the Pearly Gates at the same time. The minister expects, since he is so pious and has been so all of his life, to be taken into heaven first. Much to his dismay and disappointment, the bus driver is taken first. The minister is very upset and very irate, how is this possible he asks? A bus driver is taken in before me?? St Peter comes out and explains - "you see the way you have conducted your services, everyone always slept, but the way the bus driver drove his bus - everyone always prayed!

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As I said during my radio broadcast of Saturday, September 15th, the first response to horrific events like this, after the initial shock, is justifiable anger. But when the anger does not find a proper outlet, it inevitably leads to demoralization, depression and ultimately physical illness. For those of us who lived through World War II, it has been a particularly difficult time. Watching the courageous rescuers going through the rubble and hoping that every day they would find survivors has been the most heart wrenching aspect for me, personally. It is so reminiscent of my childhood experiences in war torn Rome.

September 11, 2001 will remain emblazoned in our conscious and that of the entire world as the day we were violated. We must do anything we can to expedite our spiritual, emotional and physical recovery. We must realize that we will never be the same after that ominous September 11th. The country will be under more vigilance, something that is very alien to the American mentality. This is necessary, however, to protect us from unruly, uncivilized people who do not share our Western values. I have had to do my own soul searching in looking for ways to deal with this. I have found that the best tools for me are prayer and action. In my case, action is protecting my patients and my loved ones. This has soothed my burning pain.

One thing of great concern to me is the exposure to toxic fumes at "ground zero" and nearby. We have heard a lot about asbestos, but no one has talked about the real threat, namely xenoestrogens and other toxic particles. Those of you who have read my book, "The Ageless Woman", understand how insidious the toxic by-products of plastic are, not only to women, but also to men. New emerging studies blame xenoestrogens in the epidemic of prostatic cancer. The toxic fumes contain many other damaging particles, like PVC, that penetrate the clothes and are absorbed into the skin. The area most at risk is the respiratory tract. From the lungs these toxic particles enter into general circulation affecting every organ of the body, but mostly the liver, the grand dame of detoxification. Liver and bowel detoxification is, therefore, a must at this time in our City and for anyone who lives or works here. The old saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", has never been truer than it is in this time of great stress.

My recommendations to everybody, but especially to people near ground zero are:

1. Wear a charcoal mask;
2. Change clothes and shower as soon as possible after exposure; an Epsom salt bath is a wonderful detoxifier - add 1 cup of epsom salts to a bathtub of water.
3. Take nutrients that bind the toxic by-products, specially 3-Indole Carbinol, which can be found in reputable health food stores or at Global Nutrition, Inc., 1-888-461-0949 or at our dispensary at 200 W. 57th Street, Suite 1202, NY, NY.
4. Take a comprehensive antioxidant formula, such as found in our dispensary, or from a reputable health food store.
5. Eat a clean Mediterranean diet (see "The Ageless Woman").
6. Take appropriate nutrients to facilitate a restful sleep. At our Center we use Stabilium and other natural products including Melatonin. In extreme cases the use of antidepressants, even as a temporary measure, is preferable to damaging insomnia.

Let's pray and God will hear us,
Serafina Corsello, MD

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In my forty years in this country I have learned the hard way, that if you want to be respected, you have to appear emotionally untouched by negative events. This requires an unhealthy dichotomy between thoughts and feelings.

September 11^th dealt a shocking blow to every thinking person in the civilized world.  For us in New York it was, and still is, an event of immense magnitude. Now, two months+ later, America, especially vis-a-vis the constant threats of bioterrorism is in a state of bewilderment that is creating a sense of collective helplessness and depression.  This plays right into the hands of our enemies.

This type of depression is really the result of poorly dealt, internalized anger. Anglo-Saxon cultures have conducted themselves under the precept that expressing feelings may be equivalent to “losing control.” 

In my opinion this mindset has caused tremendous social and cultural difficulties. The more expressive “subcultures” have been considered exactly that. Being able to talk about events and attaching to them the proper emotional content, allows the feelings to leave with the words or thoughts.  However, if one operates a dichotomy for the sake of cultural acceptance, one risks becoming ill, either physically or emotionally. Conversely, allowing proper feelings to accompany the thought process relieves the psyche and body from having to deal with subterraneous harmful sentiments.

Americans, for the most part, have not been given permission to ventilate, and this is, in great part, responsible for the current collective depression. We Italians, on the other hand, have no qualms about attaching the proper emotion to the proper content. This is probably the best safety valve during times of crises. This is what makes the Italian people so “strong” vis-a-vis tragedies, as it was evident during the earthquakes in Naples and Northen Italy. 

Italians are properly angry at what has happened to us and by the clash of the Islamic verus Judeo-Christian traditions.  The Italian Prime Minister made the faux pas, according to the Americans, of calling the people who launched the attack that destroyed 5,000 lives at once, “sub-humans”. This is exactly what we Italians do, we call a “spade a spade.”  It might appear politically incorrect, but is it better to be politically correct and be depressed or politically incorrect and feel good about oneself? The Italians, in fact, have offered to send their soldiers to join our American boys in Afghanistan. This is a proper outlet for their justifiable anger at the unruly behavior of the terrorists.

I have no hesitation about advising people to recognize the difference between expression of anger and loss of control. Beating up innocent people because they belong to an ethnic group is loss of control. Getting angry at the possibility that there are enemies around us is healthy.

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