The department of psychiatry was founded in 1927.

From 1927 to 1941 the department was headed by Candidate of Medical Sciences I.O. Zalkind.

In 1944 - 1951 the department was headed by Academician of the Academy of Sciences of UkrSSR Full Professor V. P. Protopopov.

In 1951 it was organized a course of higher nervous activity at the department, which became a separate department of higher nervous activity in 1953 (heads – P. V. Biriukovych (1953), A. Ye. Khilchenko (1953 - 1956)).

In 1956 the department of psychiatry was headed by Full Professor Io. A. Polishchuk. In 1965 under his direction the course of child neuropsychiatry was organized at the department, which became a separate department in 1969, headed by Full Professor P. I. Kovalenko, and then, in 1969, by Full Professor L. O. Bulakhova.

In 1979 - 1986 Full Professor V. S. Shaposhnykov was the head of the department.

In 1988 – 2015 the department has been headed by Honored Doctor of Ukraine, MD, Dr. Sc., Full Professor V. M. Kuznetsov, who worked as a chief children’s psychiatrist of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in 1981- 2009.  In 1994 V. M. Kuznetsov was elected a Corresponding Member of the Moscow Psychotherapeutic Academy.

Since 2015 the department has been headed by MD, Dr. Sc., Full Professor Galyna Ya. Pyliagina.

For the whole period of the department’s lifetime there have been published more than 600 scientific papers prepared, including 14 manuals, 12 collected scientific papers, written 4 doctoral dissertations and 28 master's theses. 57 clinical residents and 17 postgraduate students completed the training at the department.