The Department of Psychiatry of the First Affiliated Hospital (FAH) of Xi 'an Jiaotong University (XJTU) originated from the first Psychological Consultation Outpatient in a tertiary hospital in China set up by Professor Chen Peizhang in 1980.

After more than 40 years of development, Department of Psychiatry has formed stable research direction and disciplinary characteristics. Currently, it is a doctoral and master's degree conferment department for mental health, National Clinical Trial Institution of New Drugs for Psychiatry Specialty, Clinical Research Center for Psychiatry of Shaanxi Province and Director Affiliation of Quality Control Center for Psychiatry of Shaanxi Province, Director Affiliation of Shaanxi Association for Mental Health, Chairman Affiliation of Psychiatry Branch of Shaanxi Medical Association and Psychiatrist Branch of Shaanxi Medical Doctor Association, Training Base for Depression and Sleep Disorder of Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and Western Talent Training Base for Mental Health Specialty of National Health Commission. Department of Psychiatry aims to improve clinical diagnosis and treatment levels of psychiatry, depend upon basic research and innovative technology promotion, and become an important mental health specialty in northwest China and even the whole country and a professional talent training base integrating medical treatment, scientific research and teaching. According to the latest ranking list released by Fudan University in 2021, Psychiatry Specialty of the FAH of XJTU ranked first in the northwest region and 11^th in China.

The department currently has 77 staff including 25 physicians, 46 nurses and 7 administrative staff. The department currently employs 10 professors and associate professors, 3 guest professors, 1 part-time professor, 6 supervisors including 2 doctoral supervisors. At present, there are 3 open ward areas with 120 beds. It provides diagnosis and treatment of various mental and psychological diseases, such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, sleep disorder, physical illness accompanied by mental disorder, stress disorder and pediatric mental and behavioral disorder. Psychological consultation room, psychotherapy room, psychological examination room, brain function testing room, biofeedback treatment room, polysomnography breathing monitoring room, transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment room and MECT room are also established. The annual number of outpatients has been steadily increased, with more than 100,000 outpatients with various mental disorders and nearly 2,000 inpatients in open wards.

At present, the department undertakes the teaching tasks of medical psychology and psychiatry for medical undergraduates, graduates and international students, and the standardized training of continuing education students and resident physicians. It has established scientific research cooperation with experts at home and abroad. In recent years, it has successively undertaken scientific and technological research projects during the 9^th, 10^th, 11^th and 13^th Five-Year Plan, multiple international cooperation projects and 1 National Science and Technology Major Project. The department has undertaken 13 National Natural Science Foundation of China projects, including 1 key project and 1 outstanding youth foundation project, and over 20 scientific research projects at the provincial and ministerial levels. It has conducted extensive cooperation and exchanges with Chiba University, Broad Institute of Harvard University and Buffalo Medical College of State University of New York, etc. It has received 1 second prize for Scientific and Technological Progress Award of Shaanxi Province and 6 scientific research achievement awards at the provincial and municipal levels. The department has published over 150 articles including more than 80 articles in SCI-indexed journals. In recent years, the team from Department of Psychiatry has created groundbreaking breakthroughs in the research on the genetic mechanism of psychiatry and the mechanism underlying gut-brain axis, and successively published 5 relevant articles in Nature Genetics, Nature Communications, Molecular Psychiatry and other international top-notched journals. The department has drafted over 40 textbooks and monographs as Editor-in-Chief and editors, enjoying high academic influence in the field of psychiatry nationwide.