Which hospital is better for mental health?

If we talk about the first echelon of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment in China, the four hospitals generally recognized in the public system are Peking University Sixth Hospital, the Mental Health Institute of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, the Shanghai Mental Health Center, and the Mental Health Center of West China Hospital of Sichuan University. However, if you really want to choose, there is no need to stick to the rankings. The one that suits you is the best.

I have been working in the mental health service industry for almost five years, and I encounter people asking this question almost every week. To be honest, when I encounter difficult cases that have not been diagnosed in many places, or where conventional treatments are not effective, it is basically right to go to these hospitals. There was a visitor from Fujian who suffered from atypical bipolar disorder. He was treated locally as a common depression for more than two years. His condition was good and bad. He queued for a month to get a specialist appointment from Peking University Sixth Hospital. He adjusted the dosage of mood stabilizers and his mood stabilized in less than three months. At this time, the clinical experience advantage of top hospitals is indeed unmatched by ordinary hospitals. After all, experts from these institutions may receive more difficult cases every year than doctors at ordinary hospitals see in three to five years. When encountering comorbidities and atypical symptoms, the probability of misdiagnosis is much lower.

But I won’t directly advise everyone to rush to these companies every time. It’s really unnecessary. Last month, I met a little girl from Guangzhou. She couldn't help crying and couldn't sleep well just three months after giving birth. She specially grabbed the expert number of Jingwei Province and took the subway there for three hours early in the morning. As a result, the consultation took a full five minutes, and she was prescribed some anti-anxiety medicine and then let her go. She didn't even explain clearly what she wanted to ask about whether she could breastfeed, which made her even more frustrated when she went back. Later, she was transferred to the psychology department of a tertiary hospital near her home. The doctor stayed for more than 20 minutes each time to listen to her talk about the troubles of raising a baby, and combined with a small amount of drug intervention that did not affect breastfeeding, she recovered in more than a month. If you only have a mild illness or require relatively high-frequency psychological support, a regular public psychiatric hospital or a comprehensive tertiary-level psychology department near your home is more suitable. It is not so difficult to get an appointment, and the time for treatment is relatively sufficient, so you don’t have to waste energy going back and forth.

Nowadays, many people think that it is better to go to a hospital for psychological treatment than to go to a private institution. This statement actually has some truth - after all, the number of psychiatrists in most hospitals is too large, and it is difficult to spare a lot of time for long-term psychological consultation. If you only have problems such as workplace stress, parent-child conflicts, and emotional distress that do not require drug intervention, you can indeed get more adequate communication by looking for a private institution with complete qualifications. But there are a lot of pitfalls here. Last year, a parent came to her and said that her child was tired of learning and unwilling to go to school. She found a so-called "special psychological training institution" online and spent more than 80,000 yuan on closed training for three months. However, the child became even more resistant to his family when he came out. Later, he went to a regular hospital and was diagnosed with depression with oppositional defiant disorder. After more than half a year of intervention, he gradually improved.

After all, there is no absolute "best". When choosing, just stick to two bottom lines: First, it is formal, and public medical institutions are preferred. If you choose private ones, be sure to check whether they have a medical institution practice license, and whether the qualifications of doctors and consultants can be checked in the system of the National Health Commission. Don't believe anyone who claims "7-day cure" or "guaranteed root removal"； The second is adaptation. You need to first figure out your own needs, whether you want to diagnose difficult diseases, adjust medication plans, or need long-term psychological counseling, and then choose based on your city and time budget. It is much more practical than blindly staring at the rankings.