The use of psychopharmaceuticals to enhance human mental functioning such as cognition and mood has raised a debate on questions
regarding identity and authenticity. While some hold that psychopharmaceutical substances can help users to ‘become who they
really are’ and thus strengthen their identity and authenticity, others believe that the substances will lead to inauthenticity,
normalization, and socially-enforced adaptation of behaviour and personality. In light of this debate, we studied how persons
who actually have experience with the use of psychopharmaceutical medication would view their ‘self’ or their authentic personal
identity in relation to the use of medication. We have interviewed a number of adults diagnosed with ADHD and discussed their
experiences with medication use in relation to their conceptions of self and identity. In the first part of this paper we
illustrate that the concepts of identity and authenticity play an important and sometimes problematic role in experiences
of ADHD adults. This shows that the question about identity and psychopharmacology is not merely an ‘academic’ issue, but
one that influences everyday lives of real people. In order to answer the question whether psychopharmaceuticals threaten
personal identity and authenticity, more than empirical research is needed. We also need to analyse the concepts of personal
identity, authenticity and self: what do we mean when we are using statements as ‘a way of living that is uniquely our own’,
‘our true self’, or ‘who we really are’? In the second part of this paper we discuss two important philosophical views on
personal identity, authenticity and self: the self-control view as elaborated by Frankfurt, and the self-expression view as
proposed by Schechtman. We compare these with the experiences of our respondents to see which view can help us to understand
the diverse and often conflicting experiences that people have with medication for ADHD. This will contribute to a better
understanding of whether and in which cases personal identity and authenticity are threatened by psychopharmacology.
Keywords Psychopharmaceuticals - Enhancement - Identity - Authenticity - ADHD