Schizophrenia term use 'invalid'

BBC reports:

The term schizophrenia should be abolished, experts have said.

They claim the category falsely groups a wide range of symptoms and encourages over-reliance on anti-psychotic drugs rather than psychological intervention.

The academics also said the label stigmatised people as being violent, dangerous and untreatable. ...

They pointed to Japan, where the category schizophrenia was replaced with "integrated disorder" in 2004, as a possible model. ...

"Most psychiatrists would still agree that the term schizophrenia is a useful, if provisional, concept. My personal preference would be to replace the unpleasant term schizophrenia with dopamine dysregulation disorder which more accurately reflects what is happening in the brain when someone is psychotic."

Til Wykes, professor of clinical psychology and rehabilitation at the Institute Of Psychiatry, said: "We should be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water, as despite its limitations, a diagnosis can help people access much needed services.

IOW, the concept is unscientific, but as long as they keep changing the name, they can continue to get govt money.