Objective To explore the choice of different types of hospitals when seek medical treatment at the first time for depression patients in Beijing. Methods Patients with depression diagnosed in the outpatient clinics of 14 medical institutions in Beijing from February 2019 to August 2019 were recruited as research subjects. A self-made questionnaire was applied to investigate the choice of different types of hospitals when seek medical treatment at the first time for depression patients， and to analyze the reasons. Results A total of 4 317 people participated in the survey， and 2 770 people filled in the survey， and were included in the analysis. 42.58%（ 1 061/2 492） of the patients chose general hospital for their first visits， with the main reason of convenience（ 238 person-times）. 32.10%（ 800/2 492） of the patients chose psychiatric hospitals for their first visit. The main reason was that psychiatric hospitals or doctors were more professional（ 577 persontimes）. Among the patients who chose a psychiatric hospital for their first visit， the proportions of patients with Beijing Medical Insurance（ 72.16%， 425/589）， under 45 years old（ 89.25%， 714/800）， with bachelor degree or above（ 84.63%， 556/657）， self-rating moderate（ 46.40%， 316/681） and severe（ 16.89%， 115/681） were all higher than those of patients choosing general hospitals. The differences were statistically significant（ P＜0.05）. Conclusions The proportion of depressive patients who choose a general hospital for the first time is higher than psychiatric hospital. Beijing， high education， youth， moderate and severe patients are more inclined to choose to visit psychiatric hospitals.