Abstract Background The Psychiatric Case Register Middle Netherlands (PCR-MN) registers the mental healthcare consumption of over Dutch 760,000 inhabitants in the centre of the Netherlands. In 2010 the follow-up period was over ten years. In this paper we describe the content, aims and research potential of this case register. Description All mental healthcare institutions in the middle-western part of the province of Utrecht participate in the PCR-MN case register. All in- and out-patients treated in these institutions have been included in the database from the period 2000 to 2010. Diagnosis according to DSM-IV on axis I to IV, visits to in- and out-patient clinics and basic demographics are recorded. A major advantage of this register is the possibility to link patients anonymously from the PCR-MN cohort to other databases to analyze relationships with determinants and outcomes, such as somatic healthcare consumption, mortality, and demographics, which further increases the research potential Conclusions The PCR-MN database has a large potential for scientific research because of its size, duration of follow-up and ability to link with additional databases, and is accessible for academic researchers.