The Case for Clinical Management of Neuroenhancement in Young People
Singh I., Kelleher K.
© Oxford University Press, 2015. All rights reserved. This chapter defends that over time, stimulants and other neuroenhancers will increasingly be used to enhance young people's cognitive and behavioural functioning, alongside growing general public acceptability of neuroenhancers as tools to improve academic, social and workplace performance. The chapter focuses on the most common current neuroenhancers used in young people - stimulant drugs. The chapter outlines the key social and ethical concerns raised by the use of stimulant drugs for enhancement in young people, and makes specific research, practice and policy recommendations. The chapter also suggests a rationale for clinical management of psychotropic neuroenhancers in young people, attending closely to the necessary boundaries on such practice asserted by structural and clinical factors, as well as by potential ethical conflicts. This outline and the subsequent rationale for management focuses on stimulants, but it can serve as a template for novel neuroenhancers that reach the child market.