Psychiatrist in Fayetteville, NC

Quick Facts: Telepsychiatry in Fayetteville

• I’m Shantanu Baghel, DO, board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in psychiatry and forensic psychiatry. You see me at every visit.
• I see patients by video anywhere in North Carolina, and in person at my Wilmington office by request. I’m licensed in North Carolina only.
• A flat $250 a month covers up to four visits. The first evaluation counts as one of the four. Labs and medications are paid separately.
• Visits run 45 to 60 minutes, including the first one.
• I don’t bill insurance for my monthly practice. I’m not in the TRICARE network, and I don’t take Medicaid. I’ve written out how cash-pay psychiatry works in North Carolina in full.
• After the free 15-minute call, I book your evaluation on my next open date.
• I see adults 18 and over anywhere in North Carolina, including Cumberland, Hoke, Harnett, Moore, Robeson and Sampson.
• I do psychiatric diagnosis and medication management. I don’t provide therapy or after-hours coverage.
• I’m not a crisis service. If you’re in immediate danger, call 911, or call or text 988. Veterans and service members can dial 988 and press 1.

Getting an Appointment in Fayetteville

Of Cumberland County’s 40 licensed psychiatrists in 2025, 6 worked mainly in child psychiatry. That leaves 34 general psychiatrists. I’m taking new adult patients in Cumberland County.

In Fayetteville, 91.5% of households have a broadband subscription (Census QuickFacts). Book the free 15-minute call from home.

PTSD Medication: Sertraline, Paroxetine, and Prazosin

The 2023 VA and DoD clinical practice guideline recommends individual, manualized trauma-focused psychotherapy as the first-line treatment for PTSD, over medication. That means Prolonged Exposure, Cognitive Processing Therapy, EMDR and a few others. I don’t provide therapy. If trauma-focused therapy is right for you, a therapist trained in those protocols can provide it, and medication can run alongside it.

What I do is diagnosis and medication, and there’s a place for it. The same guideline puts three drugs in its Recommend For tier: sertraline, paroxetine and venlafaxine. Medication and therapy together are common and reasonable. When therapy is available and hasn’t been tried, I’ll recommend it alongside medication.

Prazosin is often prescribed for PTSD nightmares. The largest trial of it, a 26-week study of 304 veterans across 13 VA medical centers published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found no difference from placebo on distressing dreams, on sleep quality, or on global impression of change (PMID 29414272). A later meta-analysis of 14 placebo-controlled trials put the pooled effect for nightmare medications at a moderate 0.50, with prazosin at 0.54 across 10 studies (PMID 36613097). The small studies are positive and the big rigorous one is negative. If prazosin didn’t help you, that split is why.

The guideline lands in the same place I do. It suggests prazosin for PTSD-associated nightmares and suggests against it for PTSD symptoms generally. I’ll consider it when nightmares are the main problem. Before you start it, I show you that evidence and you decide with me how long to try it. Prazosin also lowers blood pressure, which matters if you’re already on something for blood pressure.

The other thing I look at hard is alcohol. It makes sleep less restful, and it can make PTSD symptoms worse.

Veterans, Military Families and Fayetteville State Students

Fayetteville State University enrolled a record 7,628 students in fall 2025, and more than 2,500 of them are military-affiliated, according to the university.

I see Fayetteville State students 18 and over by video, from campus housing or anywhere else in North Carolina. Veterans and military spouses can see me the same way. If you move within North Carolina, you keep the same physician.

Coming Off a Medication

If you’ve been on an antidepressant for years, including one started during or after a deployment, I can review whether you still need it.

A careful taper needs frequent contact across many months. My page on supervised antidepressant tapering explains how I set the pace.

Crisis Resources in Cumberland County

If you’re in immediate danger, call 911, or call or text 988, or go to the nearest emergency department. I’m not a crisis service and I don’t cover after-hours calls.

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988. Free and confidential, open to everyone.
• Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Open to veterans, service members, National Guard and Reserve, and their families, whether or not you’re enrolled with the VA.
• Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741, or HOLA for Spanish.
• Alliance Health behavioral health crisis line: 877-223-4617, answered 24 hours a day. Alliance is the tailored plan for Cumberland County.
• Cumberland Recovery Response Center: 1724 Roxie Avenue, Fayetteville. It’s open 24 hours a day, every day, and Alliance lists it as a place to go when a behavioral health crisis doesn’t need an emergency department.
• Military OneSource: 800-342-9647, answered 24 hours a day, for service members and their families. They offer free, confidential counseling and connect you with other resources.
• NC Peer Warmline: 1-855-733-7762, answered by a peer support specialist. Use 988 in an emergency.

If you aren’t sure which number to use, 988 takes any call and doesn’t ask about your coverage.

Common Questions

Do you take TRICARE?

No. I’m not in the TRICARE network and I don’t bill it. A flat $250 a month covers up to four visits.

Can you treat active-duty service members?

I see adults in North Carolina who pay cash, and that includes service members, spouses, dependents, veterans, retirees and contractors. What I can’t answer is what you personally owe your command in the way of self-reporting, because that depends on your duty status, your job and your unit.

Will I see the same psychiatrist at every visit?

Yes. You see me at every visit. I’m a physician, board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in psychiatry and forensic psychiatry. The ABPN lets anyone look up a psychiatrist’s board certification.

Can you prescribe medication through telepsychiatry in North Carolina?

Yes, for most psychiatric medications. Prescribing decisions for controlled medications are individualized.

My prescriber left and I need someone to take over my medications.

I can review your current medications at the first visit and continue what fits your plan. Decisions about controlled medications are individualized. Have the names, doses and dates of everything you’re on ready, plus records if you can get them. That first visit is a full evaluation, because taking over a regimen without knowing why each piece is there is how mistakes happen.

This page is general information about psychiatric care in North Carolina and is not medical advice. It does not create a physician-patient relationship. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 or go to the nearest emergency department.