Lama Muhammad, MD, is a psychiatrist whose practices focuses on the mind-body connection and its relationship to mental health disorders. She also has expertise in mental illnesses related to autoimmune disorders, and in understanding the cultural dimensions of mental health.
Dr. Muhammad has been personally touched by a friend’s mental illness and is an advocate for eliminating the stigma of psychiatric illness and serving the underserved.
With her patients, she works to show them that the mind is an organ, a part of and related to the whole body. She believes a person cannot have a healthy body without a healthy mind and has developed a style of psychiatric interviews to improve her understanding of patients’ suffering and hence her ability to treat them successfully.
Prior to joining UC San Diego Health in 2018, she was chief resident in psychiatry at University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, where she won the Diana Quinn award for service and compassion.
While in New Mexico, she worked closely with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Albuquerque and started a program for medical residents to expand mental health education and hence eliminate stigmas associated with mental illness.
Dr. Muhammad completed residency training in psychiatry and a fellowship in psychosomatic medicine/consultation liaison psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. She finished dermatology residency at Damascus University School of Medicine in Syria. She earned her medical degree from University of Tishreen Medical School in Syria.
Outside of work, Dr. Muhammad is an Arabic magic realism writer whose stories explore cultural dilemmas. She has published five books.
Aziza
a year agoShe will not listen to you, will perscribe medicines off label (even when you tell her you've tried them before and have had terrible side effects), will refuse to work with you, pressure you to take off label meds for sleep that do not work. She decided it was her place to mess with my treatment plan without my consent.... that treatment plan has worked very well for me for a decade. The fact that she thinks someone with complex PTSD should process thier trauma DURING PANIC ATTACKS speaks to her complete ignorance of general mental health practices. I've been seeing a specialist psychotherapist for years and double checked with him about this. Apparently the brain cannot process anything properly during panic attacks. By thier nature you are in fight or flight and cannot stop to put the careful thought into processing that is required. He advised me to stop seeing her or anyone under her supervision for my own safety. And on the topic of ableism: She also fought me about writing a medical letter regarding my support animal that I needed for work travel. She should not be in mental health at all.
Oliver Silver
10 months ago!Excellent Doc
Liam D
a year ago