Psychiatry Department

| Basic Overview |--------------

The Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health originated with the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry of Huashan Hospital, which was established during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. In its early years, neurology and psychiatry were one department. The department was initially led by foreign nationals, followed by Su Zonghua (a graduate of the second graduating class of the former Shanghai First Medical College) as department director, and later by Zhang Yuanchang and Xia Zhenyi as director and deputy director, respectively. In 1956, neurology and psychiatry established separate teaching and research departments. Professor Xia Zhenyi became director of the Department of Psychiatry. Professor Xia Zhenyi was one of the pioneers of psychiatry in China and an internationally renowned psychiatrist. At that time, the department had more than 110 beds and more than 10 physicians, including Xia Zhenyi, Jia Yicheng, Ji Ming, Shi Hongzhang, Wang Shancheng, Xu Taoyuan, Xu Shenghan, Zhang Liangdong, and Wang Xida. Among medical schools in China, the Department of Psychiatry of Huashan Hospital was the largest and strongest, and its clinical, teaching, and research work was at the forefront.

In 1958, due to institutional restructuring, all personnel of the Department of Psychiatry of Huashan Hospital—including doctors, nurses, nursing aides, patients, books, and other materials—moved to the newly established Shanghai Psychiatric Hospital, now the Shanghai Mental Health Center. The hospital served as the teaching base, while the teaching and research department was retained to complete the psychiatric lectures, observational training, and clinical internships for medical students. At the same time, psychiatric clinical, teaching, and research work was carried out at the Shanghai Mental Health Center.

In 1993, following the abolition of the Medical Department of the former Shanghai Medical University, Huashan Clinical Medical College was established. The staffing of the teaching and research department was transferred back to Huashan Hospital, and the Department of Psychiatry of Huashan Hospital was re-established.

The department directors over the years were: Xia Zhenyi (1956–1985), Xu Taoyuan (1985–1995), Gu Niufan (acting, 1995–1999), Wang Zucheng (acting, 1999–2002), and Shi Shenxun (2002–2023). The current director is Professor Shao Chunhong.

| Department Features |--------------

The department is a clinical department of Huashan Hospital that integrates clinical care, teaching, and research. It mainly provides the diagnosis and treatment of various mental disorders, as well as psychological counseling and treatment for common psychological problems.

Since 1995, the department has provided specialist outpatient psychological counseling services, and since November 2004 it has provided general outpatient psychological counseling services. All-day outpatient services have been available since 2008. Since 2022, outpatient psychiatric and psychological services have been available at the Hongqiao, Pudong, and Baoshan campuses, with nearly 20,000 outpatient visits annually.

Main services:

Diagnosis and treatment of common mental disorders, including depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma- and stressor-related disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, somatic symptom and related disorders, dissociative disorders, conversion disorder, eating disorders, sleep disorders, sexual dysfunctions, sexual and psychological disorders, personality disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, and mental disorders due to diseases of the brain or body. Department physicians specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of depressive disorders, including postpartum depression; anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder; schizophrenia; bipolar disorder; obsessive-compulsive disorder; somatic symptom and related disorders; sleep disorders; trauma- and stressor-related disorders; and sexual dysfunctions.

Psychological counseling and treatment, including services for common psychological problems, family relationships, workplace relationships, school refusal and Internet addiction among adolescents, and related issues.

The department is also actively developing multidisciplinary nonpharmacological intervention and treatment services, including transcranial direct current stimulation, acupoint stimulation therapy, and patch-based polysomnographic electroencephalography, providing patients with new treatment options featuring high safety and few side effects.

| Research |--------------

Professor Shi Shenxun has led numerous research projects funded by the Ministry of Education, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, and the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health, among others. He has also participated in international cooperation projects, the Eleventh Five-Year Plan projects, and major Shanghai special projects, and has obtained several patents.

Our department was among the first in China to conduct research on 5-HT6 receptor gene polymorphisms in depression; the relationship between schizophrenia, antipsychotic medications, and diabetes; vascular factors in depression; the clinical characteristics and prognosis of vascular depression; and the cognitive and neuroimaging features of post-traumatic brain injury depression.

| Teaching |--------------

The teaching and research department has consistently participated in the preparation of textbooks and reference works in this field, including the nationally standardized textbook Psychiatry; the Psychiatry volume of the Encyclopedia of Chinese Medicine; Practical Psychiatry; Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders; Generalized Anxiety Disorder; the People's Medical Publishing House monographs Women’s Mental Disorders, Clinical Technical Procedures—Psychiatry, and Clinical Practice Guidelines—Psychiatry; Bipolar Disorder, published by the People's Medical Publishing House; Commonly Used Scales in Clinical Research on Psychotropic Drugs, published by Shanghai Scientific and Educational Publishing House; the General Practice question bank of the Chinese Medical Education question bank; the psychiatry-related chapters in Practical Internal Medicine, 11th–16th editions; Examination Questions in Medical Psychology and Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Treatment-Resistant Mental Disorders; Practical Psychiatric Nursing; The Complete Guide to Clinical Medication; Psychiatric Syndromes; Modern Diagnosis and Treatment of Schizophrenia; Common English Vocabulary for Medical Students; the eight-year program Psychiatry textbook; Advances in Modern Internal Medicine; Psychiatry, editions 1–3, in the Clinical Medicine series published by Fudan University Press; Psychiatry, first and second editions, a national higher-education planning textbook for eight-year and seven-year clinical medicine programs under the Eleventh Five-Year Plan; New Concepts in Psychiatry, first and second editions; Recent Advances in Psychiatry; Community Psychiatry; Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Mental Disorders in China: Practical Edition; Psychiatry, published by Higher Education Press; the chapter “Functional Imaging Research on Mental Disorders” in Neurofunctional Imaging, published by Shandong Science and Technology Press; chapters in Psychosomatic Medicine, published by Tongji University Press; and the second edition of Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders, organized and compiled by the Psychiatric Branch of the Chinese Medical Association.

【Undergraduate and Graduate Training】 The department is an accredited master’s and doctoral training site for Fudan University’s Psychiatry and Mental Health program. It undertakes teaching in Psychiatry and Medical Psychology for medical students of Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University; English-language classes in Psychiatry and Medical Psychology for international students; and teaching in Psychosomatic Medicine for graduate students. This teaching and research department was one of the earliest units among medical schools nationwide to introduce teaching in medical psychology.

【National Training Courses】 From 2011 to 2014, Professor Shi Shenxun consecutively organized and chaired the national continuing-education program “Training Course on Advances in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Postpartum Depression” for four years. In 2012 and 2013, he consecutively organized and chaired the national continuing-education program “Recognition, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Anxiety and Depression in General Hospitals” for two years. In 2024, Director Shao Chunhong chaired the national continuing-education program “Training Course on the Recognition and Management of Mental and Psychological Problems or Disorders Accompanying Physical Diseases in General Hospitals.”

| Awards and Honors |--------------

In 2006, Shao Chunhong participated in “Molecular Genetic and Functional Neuroimaging Research on Cue-Induced Heroin Craving in Heroin-Dependent Individuals,” which received the Third Prize of the Huazhong Science and Technology Progress Award; she was the second contributor.

In 2007, Professor Xu Taoyuan was nominated for the Outstanding Psychiatrist Award of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association.

In 2010, “Application of Standardized Patients in Psychiatry Teaching,” in which Wu Yan, Shi Shenxun, and others participated, received the First Prize for Teaching Achievement from Fudan University.

In 2015, Professor Shi Shenxun served as chair of the Seventh Committee of the Psychiatric Branch of the Chinese Medical Association.

In 2023, Professor Shao Chunhong served as chair of the Fourth Psychosomatic Medicine Professional Committee of the Shanghai Association of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine.

In 2015, Professor Shao Chunhong served as a member of the Ninth Committee of the Psychiatric Branch of the Chinese Medical Association.