This OA book tests the hypothesis of whether mental health and enhancement can be seen as two sides of the same coin: that the demands on cognitive and emotional functioning have been increasing and more people are responding with instrumental substance use. It seems to be an unquestioned axiom in ethical discussions to sharply distinguish medical treatment from enhancement: improving people beyond their 'normal' capacities. But does such a distinction make sense in the domain of mental health? After all, not a single mental disorder (as defined e.g. in the DSM-5 of 2013) can be diagnosed objectively (using a brain scan, genetic screening, or blood test, for example). And while psychiatric diagnoses and medical prescriptions have been increasing in many countries for decades, many surveys sampling enhancement used in students keep reporting remarkably low prevalence rates. This book asks whether (neuro-)enhancement really deserves so much attention, or whether the trends in diagnosis and the use of psychopharmacological drugs (mostly stimulants like Adderall or Ritalin) are a reflection of changing social norms and increasing instrumental substance use? weiterlesen