Consider the following scenario:

Dylan Dawson is a master’s student from a prestigious school majoring in industrial engineering. Besides academic responsibilities, he’s also involved in several extracurricular activities. His recent project is organizing a TEDx event on campus. Dylan Dawson is dealing with too many obligations right now, so he goes to his doctor and asks for a prescription of Vyvanse, a stimulant in the amphetamine class prescribed to treat mostly attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Dylan receives a temporary prescription for Vyvanse, so he can stay focused and motivated while juggling with classes, course work, working out, and organizing the TEDx event.

Dylan isn’t diagnosed with any pathological disease that would require him to take Vyvanse. The purpose of him taking this prescription drug is to ace all his exams, stick to his workout routine, and organize a successful TEDx event.

There is even a term describing Dylan’s situation: cosmetic psychopharmacology, coined by Peter Kramer, a psychiatrist and faculty member at Brown Medical School. Kramer defines cosmetic pharmacology as “using medications to induce desirable and socially rewarding personality traits in healthy individuals.” In case of Dylan Dawson, he used Vyvanse to enhance his cognitive performance to power through a challenging time even though he was perfectly healthy.

Cosmetic psychopharmacology raises many ethical issues in medicine about prescribing drugs to people who are basically healthy but want to “feel better” about themselves or perform better than they otherwise could. There are plenty of drugs, including pain killers, antidepressants, sleeping aids, and antianxiety drugs that are prescribed to patients who don’t really need them. Here, I’ll focus on drugs from three distinct classes, using examples of a benzodiazepine (Valium), a serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (Prozac), and a stimulant (Adderall). I’ll be talking about these drugs because they are top-billing drugs within their classes, and because they are widely prescribed among Americans.

The first drug, Valium, is one of the most commonly prescribed benzodiazepines (often called “benzos” for short): over 9 million prescriptions were filled in 2014. It was first introduced in the 1960s and interestingly, it’s one of the first psychoactive drugs massively prescribed to people who were basically healthy. Valium helps calm your brain and nerves and it’s intended to be prescribed for anxiety, seizures, insomnia, and alcohol or opiate withdrawals. Valium is one of America’s most popular “mind” medicines and has many pop-culture references. The Rolling Stones for instance, released a single titled “Mother’s Little Helper,” in which Mick Jagger sings “Though she is not really ill, there’s a little yellow pill.” Although there are many interpretations of the lyrics, it’s anecdotally thought to be about housewives medicating themselves to a happier life.

The second prescription drug for consideration is Prozac, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), first released by the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly in 1987. In 2010, over 24.4 million prescriptions for Prozac were filled in the United States as well as 6 million prescriptions in the United Kingdom making it one of the world’s most commonly-prescribed antidepressants. Prozac bolsters serotonin, a neurotransmitter that is thought (among other neurotransmitters) to be involved in the neurochemistry of feeling happiness.

Dr. Peter Kramer is a practicing psychiatrist and in his book titled “Listening to Prozac” he describes many cases where Prozac has transformed his patients making them more calm, confident, and cheerful. Many individuals who don’t suffer from depression take it to handle better errands, deadlines, tasks, social events and job pressure. This is illustrated in Jenna Wong’s study from McGill University who shows that almost half of the people taking antidepressants aren’t clinically depressed.

Now, let’s shift gears away from Baby Boomers favorite pharmaceutical drugs (benzo’s and SSRI’s) and discuss what Millennials have in their medicine cabinets. Stimulants tend to be the drug of choice for Millennials with almost 16 million prescriptions for stimulants like Adderall were written for adults in 2012. Adderall, a cocktail mixture of amphetamine salts, is prescribed predominantly for treating ADHD – a condition marked by hyperactivity and difficulties with maintaining mental focus. Adderall is very effective as a cognitive enhancer and it’s been abused not only on college campuses, but also among professions that require high concentration and offer little room for mistakes such as lawyers, clinicians, and medical staff.

Valium, Prozac, and Adderall share something in common: they’re among the many drugs we are often prescribed, but we do not necessarily need. So, why do we care about this?

Well, long-term effects of these drugs are poorly understood and can have powerful effects on brain and body. Valium’s long-term effects include memory loss, hallucinations and difficulty breathing. Chronic and heavy Prozac users experience restlessness, tension, and sleep disturbances and other symptoms, although these are usually resolved after cessation of the medication. Chronic users of Adderall may experience depression, hostility, and paranoia. What’s even more scarier is that Adderall is an appetite suppressant, so in children it can inhibit growth due to malnutrition.

America’s drug use is reported to be the highest in the world, and there are two main reasons for this: First, aggressive marketing by drug companies is highly publicized by different platforms of media, ranging from TV channels, radio, the internet, and newspapers.  Secondly, the medical system has a reductionist and fast approach for treating illnesses using mostly surgical interventions and drugs. Dashing off numerous prescriptions by physicians and nurse practitioners is the easiest and fastest way not only to address patient’s concerns but leaving them satisfied. This is a very effective, money-making strategy that generated $309.5 billion dollars just on prescription drugs in 2015 and its estimated that in 2020, revenues will reach up to $400 billion dollars.

There is no doubt that SSRI’s and benzo’s have revolutionized medicine and treated millions of people suffering from depression, anxiety, and other disorders. Similarly, stimulants such as Adderall are exceptionally effective in treating ADHD and narcolepsy. However, it is important to remember that all drugs pose some risks. And besides consulting with your physician, it’s worth conducting extensive research yourself on your next prescription drug before taking it.