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It's okay not to be okay.
Meet Shelia Bynum
My name is Shelia Bynum, and I am a board-certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) with a deep passion for helping individuals navigate the challenges of mental health with compassion, expertise, and personalized care. Whether you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, or just feeling overwhelmed by life’s demands, my practice is a place of understanding, support, and hope.
Practice Areas
Mental wellness is a journey, it's okay to not be okay. Let's embrace this process of growth together. My mission is to provide a safe space for individual, quality care.
Psychiatric Evaluation
A comprehensive assessment of a person's mental state, typically conducted by a psychiatrist or other mental health professional. It aims to identify any mental health concerns, formulate a diagnosis, and recommend appropriate treatment options. The evaluation involves gathering information through interviews, mental status examinations, and potentially other tests or observations.
Depression (also known as major depression, major depressive disorder, or clinical depression) is a common but serious mood disorder. It causes severe symptoms that affect how a person feels, thinks, and handles daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working. To be diagnosed with depression, the symptoms must be present for at least 2 weeks.
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​Anxiety disorders are a cluster of mental disorders characterized by significant and uncontrollable feelings of anxiety and fear, such that a person’s social, occupational, and personal functions are significantly impaired. Anxiety may cause physical and cognitive symptoms, such as restlessness, irritability, easy fatigue, difficulty concentrating, increased heard rate, chest pain, abdominal pain, and a variety of other symptoms that may vary based on the individual .
Mood Disorders
A mood disorder is a type of mental health condition where there is a disconnect between actual life circumstances and the person's state of mind or feeling. A mood disorder can negatively affect your ability to function normally. It can have serious consequences in all aspects of life, from personal to professional.
Eating Disorders
An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's physical or mental health. These behaviors may include eating too much food or too little food. Types of eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, other specified feeding and eating disorder, pica and rumination disorder.
PTSD
PTSD is a mental and behavioral disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a person's life or well-being. Symptoms may include disturbing thoughts, feelings, or dreams related to the events, mental or physical distress to trauma-related cues, attempts to avoid trauma-related cues, alterations in the way a person thinks and feels, and an increase in the fight-or-flight response. Intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations.
Perinatal & Post Partum
Perinatal depression encompasses depression occurring during pregnancy (prenatal depression) and after childbirth (postpartum depression), a period lasting up to a year postpartum. It's a serious but treatable condition characterized by feelings of sadness, anxiety, and changes in energy, sleep, and appetite, affecting both the mother and the child. While postpartum depression is often discussed, it's important to understand that perinatal depression is a broader term encompassing the entire perinatal period.
Behavioral Issues
Behavioral issues, sometimes called behavioral disorders, refer to patterns of behavior that are disruptive and harmful to oneself or others. These issues can manifest in various ways, including impulsivity, aggression, difficulty following rules, and challenges with emotional regulation. They can be a symptom of underlying mental health conditions or developmental disorders.
Bipolar Disorder
People with bipolar disorder (formerly called manic depression or manic-depressive illness) also experience depressive episodes, during which they feel sad, indifferent, or hopeless, combined with a very low activity level. But a person with bipolar disorder also experiences manic (or less severe hypomanic) episodes, or unusually elevated moods, in which they might feel very happy, irritable, or “up,” with a marked increase in activity. Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself.
Insomnia
Insomnia is a sleep disorder where individuals experience difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up too early. It can be classified as short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic), and is further categorized by the specific sleep problems it causes, such as difficulty falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night, or waking up too early.
OCD
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). These obsessions and compulsions can significantly impact a person's daily life, causing distress and interfering with work, social activities, and other areas of functioning.
ADHD
ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a chronic condition including attention difficulty, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. People with ADHD may have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors (may act without thinking about what the result will be), or be overly active. Although ADHD is very common, it can't be cured, but it can be successfully managed and treatment can help. It can begin in childhood and become chronic. Some symptoms may improve as the child ages or it can last for years or be lifelong.
