To identify the pattern of psychiatric morbidity in hospitalized patients of a tertiary care unit.Design; Details of patient’s admissions from the case register of psychiatric unit were recorded retrospectively.The study was conducted in Dept. of Psychiatry Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre JPMC Karachi and included data of ten years. RESULTS;- TA total of 5527 patients were hospitalized during period of ten years (1995 – 2004). Among them 62.612% (n = 3461) were males and 37.38 (n = 2066) were females. The majority of patients were in the age range of 15 – 44 years. On the basis of ICD classification, mood disorders (F 30 – F 39) (42.42%) were most frequent diagnosis made, followed by schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders (F20-F29) (26.50%), mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive substance use (9.5%).CONCLUSION; Pattern of inpatients psychiatric disorders is slightly different from outpatient population and comprised of mostly patients with un-manageable acute psychiatric disorder. This measure of assessment of needs will help in allocation of resources