Relabeling has been proposed as a strategy to reduce the stigma associated with mental illnesses. Previous studies have shown that changing the names of psychiatry clinics has led to reduced feelings of being stigmatized among patients. In Taiwan, terms other than ‘psychiatry’ (in Chinese, jīng shén kē) are more commonly used in the names of psychiatry clinics. The term ‘psychosomatic clinics’ is widely used instead.

This study investigated the characteristics of psychiatry clinic names in order to better understand the role of clinic names in primary care settings.

Relevant data were extracted from an open database maintained by the government of Taiwan. These data included the names of community psychiatry clinics and hospital-based psychiatry clinics, population size and the degree of urbanization in the area served by each clinic.

At the time of this study, there were 254 community psychiatry clinics and 190 hospital-based psychiatry clinics in Taiwan. Only 18.9% of the community clinic names included the term ‘psychiatry’. Additionally, 14.6% of community clinic names and 28.4% of hospital-based clinic names included the term ‘psychosomatics’. The regions in which clinics without ‘psychiatry’ in their names were located had significantly larger populations and higher levels of urbanization than the regions in which clinics with ‘psychiatry’ in their names were located.

A low prevalence of the term ‘psychiatry’ in community psychiatry clinic names was found in Taiwan. The stigma associated with psychiatry and other socio-cultural factors are hypothesized to explain this phenomenon.