Objective To explore the mental health knowledge awareness of the guardians of patients with severe mental disorders. Methods A total of 279 guardians of patients with severe mental disorders in Chongqing were recruited from December 2017 to June 2018. All the participants were investigated with general information questionnaire and mental health knowledge questionnaire. Results The 279 guardians took care of 240 patients with severe mental disorders， among which 39（ 16.2%） patients had two guardians. The guardians' age were（ 54.70±15.26） years. The education level of 144 people was primary school and below， accounting for 51.6%， 89 was junior high school， accounting for 31.9%， 33 was high school and secondary school， accounting for 11.8%， and 13 was college and above， accounting for 4.6%. The duration of care was（ 156.29±61.77） months. The guardians' awareness rate of mental health knowledge was 76.2%. The awareness rate of mental health knowledge among guardians of different educational levels is different in different items. The correctness of some items is related to the different time of care and the age of guardian. Conclusions The direct guardians of patients with severe mental disorders show the characteristics of small number of guardians， older age， lower education level and longer care time. Educational level， age and time of care had influence on the awareness rate of mental health knowledge.