Background: This study reports on the profile of patients seeking services at DMHP setting versus tertiary care institution in north India. The objective was to determine the pattern of psychiatric morbidity among patients utilizing DMHP services in north India and to compare it with the diagnostic profile of psychiatric outpatients seeking treatment from a tertiary health care hospital. Methods: This study was conducted in DMHP setting in a rural and health training center (RHTC), situated in sector 56, Chandigarh. The design was a prospective chart analysis of the recorded data in patients' files and registers. Case record files of new patients registered in the DMHP center and psychiatry outpatients of a tertiary care hospital from January 2016 to December, 2017 were recorded and evaluated in detail. The psychiatric diagnoses were made as per ICD-10 criteria. Results: A total 784 patients at DMHP and 12,388 patients at tertiary care teaching hospital were registered. There was a highly significant difference in the diagnostic profile of patients on the comparison between patients seeking treatment from two different settings (P <0.0001). At the DMHP setting, the majority of patients (64.66%) seeking treatment were diagnosed in the category of mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance use(F10-19) and were followed by patients (17.21%) with category of mood (affective disorders(F30-39). In psychiatry OPD of tertiary care institution, the majority of patients were diagnosed as neurotic, stress-related, and somatoform disorders followed by mood disorders and difference in diagnostic break-up between two settings was highly significant (P<0.0001). Conclusions: It can be concluded from the study that clinical services at DMHP center at the rural and training center, Chandigarh level attract more number of patients with psychoactive substance use disorders than tertiary care center-based clinical services.