Campbell's Psychiatric Dictionary is widely recognized as the definitive dictionary of psychiatry--up-to-date, comprehensive, and authoritative. Distinguished by its clarity and scholarship, it is unique among dictionaries in providing nearly encyclopedic discussions of many of the most important entries.

The Ninth Edition is nearly double the size of the previous edition and has been updated, revised, and vastly expanded to cover the explosion of new words and terms in psychiatry (including terms reflective of the debate now informing the development of the DSM-V), neuroscience, cognitive and clinical psychology, and neurodegenerative diseases as well as relevant terms and concepts from a wide range of related fields, including genetics, imaging, general medicine, forensic psychiatry, and sociology. It also covers the full range of treatments, including psychopharmacologic agents, behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, interpersonal therapy, and other brief therapies. The entries are clearly written, so that they can be understood by non-psychiatrists (including general readers), and they feature cross-references, so that readers can easily locate all the relevant information on a topic.

Campbell's is written for the working library of a broad and diverse readership of specialists and non-specialists that includes psychiatrists, residents, neurologists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, counselors, lawyers, claims reviewers, and lay readers with an interest in mental health issues.