Cosmetic psychopharmacology, a term coined in 1990 by the psychiatrist Peter D. Kramer and popularized in his 1993 book ''

Listening to Prozac ''Listening to Prozac: A Psychiatrist Explores Antidepressant Drugs and the Remaking of the Self'' is a book written by psychiatrist Peter D. Kramer. Written in 1993, the book discusses how the advance of the anti-depressant drug Prozac might ch ...

'', refers to the use of drugs to move persons from a normal psychological state to another normal state that is more desired or better socially rewarded — e.g., from melancholy towards assertiveness and confidence or from slower to quicker cognition. The comparison is with surgery, in which the same intervention can be therapeutic (as in reparative work on burn victims) or cosmetic (as in

rhinoplasty Rhinoplasty ( grc, ῥίς, rhī́s, nose + grc, πλάσσειν, plássein, to shape), commonly called nose job, medically called nasal reconstruction is a plastic surgery procedure for altering and reconstructing the nose. There are two typ ...

for the enhancement of beauty in conventional terms). In general, cosmetic psychopharmacology refers to the use of psychoactive medications by normal, healthy individuals for the purpose of enhancement rather than the treatment of a formal pathology. Kramer reported that with the antidepressant

Prozac Fluoxetine, sold under the brand names Prozac and Sarafem, among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorde ...

, occasional patients seemed "better than well," and he discussed the ethical dilemmas that might result if similar medications were offered to individuals not afflicted with psychiatric disorders. Following these case reports, much controversy arose over the veracity and ethics of the cosmetic use of actual

antidepressants Antidepressants are a class of medication used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, chronic pain conditions, and to help manage addictions. Common side-effects of antidepressants include dry mouth, weight gain, dizziness, heada ...

and other similar medications. Opponents of cosmetic pharmacology believe that such drug usage is unethical and that the concept of cosmetic pharmacology is a manifestation of naive consumerism. Proponents, such as philosopher

Arthur Caplan Arthur L. Caplan (born 1950) is the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor of Bioethics at New York University Grossman School of Medicine and the founding director of the Division of Medical Ethics. Caplan has made many contribut ...

, state that it is an individual's (rather than the government's or physician's) right to determine whether to use a drug for cosmetic purposes. Anjan Chatterjee, a neurologist at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, has argued that western medicine stands on the brink of a neuro-enhancement revolution in which people will be able to improve their memory and attention through pharmacological means. Jacob M. Appel, a

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

ethicist, has raised concerns about the possibility of employers mandating such enhancements for their workers.

References

Scientific articles via PubMed

*{{cite journal , author=Bjorklund P , title=Can there be a 'cosmetic' psychopharmacology? Prozac unplugged: the search for an ontologically distinct cosmetic psychopharmacology , journal=Nurs Philos , volume=6 , issue=2 , pages=131–43 , date=April 2005 , pmid=15787908 , doi=10.1111/j.1466-769X.2005.00213.x

External links

Society for the Advancement of Cosmetic Pharmacotherapy
Dermatologic drugs

See also

References

Scientific articles via PubMed

External links