DIAGNOSING mental-health problems by applying labels such as “personality disorder” and “schizophrenia” can be counterproductive to recovery, University of Bath researchers said yesterday.

The label “borderline personality disorder” is particularly problematic, according to their findings.

This is due to self-stigma, negative attitudes on the part of others and health workers being more likely to offer pessimistic prognoses and treatments that ignore individual circumstances.

The study found labels led to professionals “judging a book by its cover,” said Paul Salkovskis, professor of clinical psychology and applied science at the university.

Doctors should be “mindful of the influence that such labels can have on their own clinical judgements,” he added.

Researchers put mental-health therapists into three groups, each given different amounts of “incidental” background information on a person suffering from anxiety. Therapists given the false diagnosis of personality disorders were negatively influenced by it, the study found.