The mental health services are “not fit for purpose” and need to be “ripped up” in favour of a new approach, a consultant psychiatrist with the HSE told a conference at UCC yesterday.

PSYCHIATRIC labels such as schizophrenia, bipolar, ADHD and even depression must be abolished as they serve no positive purpose and may hamper long-term recovery, a conference has heard.

MANY psychiatrists are not informing people about the dangers of the long-term use of drugs they are prescribing — or about the medical problems which may develop later in life.