Last Sunday’s 60-Minutes had piece about college kids using ADHD drugs like Adderall to enhance their mental performance. Here’s the segment description from cbs.com -
More people, especially college students trying to improve their grades, are illegally boosting their brain power by using prescription “smart drugs” like Ritalin and Aderall, meant for those with attention deficit disorders. Katie Couric reports.
My takeaway from this piece was that most of these kids thought it was ‘a way to get ahead’ and didn’t see much of a problem with it. One college student said she has never been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, but found studying on the drug made her more alert and made whatever she was studying more interesting. The result for her – better results and I guess it follows a better job, better life etc.
One question I wished Katie Couric would have asked (or perhaps she did and it was edited out) is what does this cross-section of students think of the whole steroid in sports debate? I find it interesting that most of the students appeared to be comfortable with the idea of chemical enhancement of their mental performance. I would have liked to have heard their thoughts on the use of steroids in college sports. Perhaps they would have been comfortable with this too as a maximization of talent or ability. A student said something similar about using drugs to be “smarter.”
As you can imagine there are doctors on both sides of the fence; some say this is the future - ‘cosmetic enhancement of the brain’, while others caution this is misuse of potentially addictive stimulants.
Okay, so you probably know my philosophy – I’m not a fan of using prescription drugs unless they are proven necessary. I tend to believe we can accomplish much of the work drugs do through natural means and only when truly appropriate, should we turn to drugs. So I’m not a fan of chemical ‘cosmetic enhancement of the brain’ as a way for college kids to make the grade. There are just too many potential side effects.
It didn’t take me too long to form my opinion on this. But then I asked myself another question, what about natural enhancement? What is my justification for trying fish oil with it’s brain enhancing EPA and DHA, or phosphatidylserine, or the mushroom Lion’s Mane? Couldn’t this be seen as “cosmetic enhancement of the brain” just with natural remedies instead of synthetics? I guess for me, it’s about side effects. My issue is not with performance enhancement (as I initially thought) but rather the potential price to be paid.
What do you think? Is performance enhancement, mental or physical, okay and if so, under what circumstances?
–Michael Ventresca
