I’m Dr. Kojo Sarfo, a mental health nurse practitioner and TikToker, and here’s a piece of my mind
SINGING, DANCING, AND TIKTOK. THIS CONTENT CREATOR IS PUTTING A BRAND NEW SPIN ON MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS.
By Kristina Benoist
Welcome to our Piece Of My Mind series where experts, advocates, and amazing people from all backgrounds and professions share a snapshot of their mental health. We dive into their self-care routines, how they balance their work with their mental health, and how they manage those really bad days. We’re sharing this piece of their mind so that you can hopefully find some inspiration in your own mental health journey moving forward.
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“Every time you’re feeling low, just remember there is hope. Happiness looks good on you.”
These hopeful lyrics are sung by Dr. Kojo Sarfo in many of his TikTok videos. And no matter what topic he’s covering, it always feels like he’s talking directly to you.
Dr. Kojo is a social media content creator, a mental health nurse practitioner, a psychotherapist, and an author — just to list a few. He combines his medical background and his talent for TikTok to create relatable, helpful, and inspiring videos about mental health.
He covers everything from dating with social anxiety to understanding the potential signs of mental health conditions, helpful tips for self-care, and managing your overall mental health — with no shortage of creative songs and dance moves. We sat down with Dr. Kojo to learn more about his work and how he manages his own mental health.
This is Dr. Kojo Sarfo and here’s a piece of his mind.
IDONTMIND (IDM): How is your mental health today? What’s your headspace like?
Dr. Kojo Sarfo (KS): Today I'm doing fairly well. I'm making my own schedule now, so I've been allowing myself to actually get more sleep and exercise. I'm just focusing on the basics. So I feel more at peace now.
IDM: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.
KS: So that's an interesting question now. Before social media, I could just tell somebody that I'm a doctorally-prepared, psychiatric men's health nurse practitioner and psychotherapist, which I still am. But now I'm a full-time content creator. I'm using what I learned in school to educate people online now and promote men's health awareness.
I do that through TikTok and Instagram primarily, and I'm starting to cross over into the YouTube space. I'm making videos to educate people about common mental health conditions, like ADHD, different versions of anxiety, and different self-care tips that people can use to help them get through their day to day life.
With the pandemic, I think a lot of people are appreciating those tips. We all have a lot more time now to sit back and really recalibrate. We have the opportunity to really work on ourselves. I think it's given me a space to have a voice online.
@dr.kojosarfo In case you were having a hard day 😎 ##positivity ##rap ##goodmood ##keepgoing ##happy ##trauma
♬ original sound - Dr. Kojo Sarfo
IDM: What does a normal day look like for you right now?
KS: So every morning I work with my team and go through a daily report that my assistant makes up for me. Then I'll section out about two to four hours every day for content creation, so I go to the comment section and I'll read what people are commenting about or what they want to see.
Frequently, I'll go live on Instagram and answer questions and see what's on people's minds. And they'll say, 'Hey, can you do a video about how to date with social anxiety or how to make friends after the pandemic?' It's cool because my online research includes watching TikToks. I might spend an hour every day just watching TikToks — funny videos and just relatable stuff online. I allow that to inspire me and then I get to create the content. Then I'll end the day with a workout and then get some sleep.
“It’s interesting because I didn’t necessarily know that something was wrong. It was just life for me. I thought that everybody went through what I went through. I didn’t realize things could get easier.”
IDM: What was your first experience really thinking about mental health?
KS: Growing up, I always knew that I had an issue paying attention. We didn't have insurance, so I could never get evaluated. When I was around 24, I finally had the resources. I was in grad school and I got evaluated and then I was diagnosed with ADHD. But I was already in school for my doctorate when I got diagnosed with ADHD, and I had dealt with it undiagnosed my whole life. I had to kind of find a roundabout way of dealing with it.
I could never really put a label on it. So I've always thought about mental health, but I never had the label of ADHD. It's interesting because I didn't necessarily know that something was wrong. It was just life for me. I thought that everybody went through what I went through. I didn’t realize things could get easier.
IDM: Your work is all on social media right now, and that can weigh pretty heavily on a person’s mental health. How do you balance your work with taking care of your mental health?
KS: That's a great question because every day I'm finding new ways of doing this. Even though I enjoy social media, people don't realize that you can be burnt out by something that you love to do. I really have to pace myself.
I look at myself as a personal brand — like ESPN, NBC, ABC, and all those different major networks. And I don't think that the brand can take the day off. That's how I feel. It might be an unpopular thing, but I don't feel like the brand can take the day off. As human beings though, we have to take days off. We're not invincible. So I'm always looking at new ways to be more efficient. It started with me hiring a team. Having a team of people helping me out has been immensely helpful because they get things done. It allows me to just focus on content creation — and the things that I'm good at.
I also take weekends off. I don't post content on the weekends unless it's a video or something that I can make in just a couple of minutes. I'll force myself to go out and do things. And I'm even flirting with the idea of having a four-day work week and taking off Fridays altogether for my mental health.
@dr.kojosarfo ... because there are ppl out there who care & want to help! 🏆 ##keepgoing ##depresion ##sadvibes ##moodswings
♬ Runaway - AURORA
IDM: What are a few ways that you self-care? How did you find them, and how did you realize that they worked for you?
KS:
CHANGING WORK LOCATION
So the first thing that comes to mind is that I switch up my work location a lot. I've found that my weeks can become kind of monotonous. So instead of working from my office, I might go to the rooftop, or I go to a coffee shop. I like to switch up where I'm working from to make work fun. If I'm in a different environment, it's going to make it more enjoyable and makes me feel less burnt out.
SLEEP TRACKING
Another thing I do is use my Apple watch to track my sleep. Going through school, I learned how to function on little to no sleep. It got me through school, and it helped me learn a lot of information in a short amount of time. But once you learn how to go without sleep, your body thinks it can always function like that. So I'm working on really prioritizing getting a good night’s sleep.
EATING HEALTHIER FOOD
I picked up an air fryer so I could make more food at home and not Doordash as much. Having ADHD, I need to cut back on artificial and processed food. Even for me, I've noticed that eating healthier food increases my energy and helps me be more focused.
“There’ve been times when I’ll just have to reschedule — even when it is urgent. Sometimes I just don’t have it in me. And I’ve learned that’s okay.”
IDM: Is there anything that you know you should be doing and you just can't get yourself to do it or you just don't make time for it?
KS: The most important thing I need to do for myself is find a therapist. I had one when I was living in Virginia, and it was extremely helpful. But I moved to California, and I just haven’t found someone to go to yet.
IDM: So on a really bad day when you wake up and you just know that you aren't feeling right. What do you do first to start getting your mental health back in a good space?
KS: The first thing I do is take a shower. That tends to give me a lot of energy. And then, realistically, I'll look at my to-do list and I'll figure out what the urgent tasks are. If there's something that I absolutely have to do, I'll prepare myself for it. And then after that, I won't do anything else. I'll go out somewhere to eat in the city, play some video games, listen to music, or call a friend.
There've been times when I'll just have to reschedule — even when it is urgent. Sometimes I just don't have it in me. And I’ve learned that’s okay. If it's the anniversary of losing a loved one or I just don't have the energy, I have nothing to give at that point. And then I kind of go into survival mode. Taking care of myself becomes the most important thing.