Dr. Jamie Fernandez understands that psychiatric disease can be devastating. But most importantly, she says, it can and should be treated.
“Patients need access to mental healthcare, which will require a reduction in the stigma and negative perceptions about mental illness that are a barrier to so many in need of treatment,” she says. “It is incredibly gratifying to care for individuals and participate in their recovery.”
Dr. Fernandez heads the Behavioral Health Center at Memorial Hospital Tampa, where she treats a wide range of mental illnesses — including anxiety, depression, alcoholism, addiction and PTSD — with evidence-based treatment options. She specializes in mood disorders during pregnancy and postpartum, neurocognitive disorders and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which improves symptoms in more than 80% of patients with treatment-resistant depression.
“Despite its efficacy, negative perceptions remain, likely because early forms of ECT did not have the safety and comfort measures that are required today,” she says. “Patients do not experience any pain or discomfort during the procedure, and the antidepressant effects are often rapid and profound.”
Education: M.D., Cornell University Weill Medical College; Internship, New York Hospital Queens Department of Medicine; Residency in Adult Psychiatry, Stanford University Medical Center; Board Certified in Psychiatry and Neurology
508 S. Habana Ave., Suite 380
Tampa, FL 33609 | (813) 872-0457
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