Psychiatric dictionary

The seventh edition of this psychiatric reference is the largest overhaul the dictionary has received. It adds the new terminology and diagnostic criteria from the recently revised fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. It also brings in findings from neurobiology and neuroimaging, the research that defined the so-called Decade of the Brain.

Recent years have produced outcome research comparing forms of psychotherapy, which has laid groundwork for matching treatments to patients. The edition reflects the growing interest in brief therapy and tries to capture recent work in self-psychology and the object relations school of psychoanalysis. More than 2,200 entries are new, making up 18 percent of the total.

Many older entries have been updated with recent findings about the mechanisms and disorders they describe. Others were removed or greatly shortened, and a few were kept mainly for their historical value. Important terms receive encyclopedic treatment, and cross-references link core concepts to related ideas and to parallels between different theoretical models.

The editor aimed to make the field's vocabulary clear to clinicians who use it daily as well as to people working in neighboring disciplines. New or substantially revised entries cover alcohol and substance use, newer psychiatric medications and new uses for older drugs, psychology and social work, genetics, cognitive disorders such as dementia, delirium and amnesia, the structure and function of neurons, information processing, language acquisition, and health law and forensic psychiatry. It is intended for mental health professionals and students.