Psychiatrist in Costa Mesa, California,
Jerry Benzl, MD

Our body, mind, and environment all play a crucial role in impacting our health and in psychiatry, this lesson is key.
I chose psychiatry in large part because I believe that health functions as a system that incorporates each of these factors to a significant degree. This is good news because it means I can work with my patients to apply a wide range of plans to meet their goals and advance in a positive way. Indeed, what my field calls the ˜biopsychosocial’ paradigm really calls for an all of the above approach. Yet, I do want to emphasize that although biological interventions, and medication in particular, play a valuable role in treating many conditions, our own circumstances often have a much greater effect on our day to day wellbeing. The interplay of stress, and how we respond to stress, really is the fundamental equation of psychiatry.
My academic history is somewhat eclectic. My undergraduate degree is from U.C. Berkeley in mathematics and economics and I have a master degree in the social sciences from UCI. I started my journey in psychiatry at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago where I completed both my M.D. and general residency. Illinois is a fantastic place to learn and train; the culture of Chicago is diverse and patients ranged across a wide spectrum of circumstances. I returned home to California to complete my fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of California, Irvine, in Orange County. I see myself as a ˜life-span’ psychiatrist and I enjoy working with all ages.