The journal covers a broad range of topics related to the pathophysiology and treatment of major neuropsychiatric disorders.

A yearly supplement is published which contains the abstracts from the annual meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry.

[1] It obtained its current name in 1969 with volume numbering restarting at 1[2] and is the official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry.

In 2016, a spin-off journal was established: Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (ISSN 2451-9022).

In 2021, a second spin-off journal was established: Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science (ISSN 2667-1743).