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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the bronchi that is difficult to diagnose at an early stage, with two out of three people affected unaware of their condition. The primary cause is smoking. Screening for COPD is recommended for patients at risk, but in practice it is estimated that only one-fifth of those patients are actually screened. Patients receiving psychiatric care smoke two to ten times more than the general population. We therefore proposed COPD screening for patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital to assess its relevance. Materials and methods A four-month prospective cohort study was conducted in a psychiatric hospital. All at-risk patients (current or former smokers) over the age of 40, or those with symptoms (chronic cough or dyspnea) were offered COPD screening using mini-spirometers. A FEV1/FEV6 ratio of less than or equal to 0.70 was considered a positive result. Patients with a positive or intermediate result (0.70–0.75) and those who failed the test were referred for a pulmonology consultation. Results Among the 292 patients hospitalized in a psychiatric ward between September 19, 2023, and January 19, 2024, 74 (25%) required screening. Nine patients (12%) did not wish to undergo screening, leaving 65 screening tests performed. Four patients did not perform the spirometry correctly (7%), 7 (10%) had an intermediate result (0.70–0.75), and 13 (20%) tested positive for COPD. A total of 25 patients (38% of those screened and 8.5% of those hospitalized) required referral for full pulmonary function testing (PFT), of whom 36% were considered asymptomatic by the doctor. One year later, 4 patients (16%) had undergone PFT, which confirmed COPD and were receiving treatment; 15 had not undergone PFT; and 6 could not be contacted. The absence of PFT in 21 patients suspected of having COPD makes it impossible to estimate its prevalence in our population. Conclusion Systematic COPD screening in at-risk psychiatric inpatients appears necessary. Equipping multidisciplinary medical teams working in psychiatry with mini-spirometers is a simple and cost-effective way of achieving this.