“WOMEN ON PSYCHOTROPIC MEDICATION”: EXPERIENCES OF WOMEN USING PSYCHOTROPICS IN AN AUTONOMOUS MEDICATION MANAGEMENT GROUP

Abstract

The Brazilian Psychiatric Reform proposes the development of new mental health care practices and contexts grounded in freedom, in opposition to the dominant medicalizing logic. This logic has contributed to the expansion of mental disorder diagnoses and the increasing use of psychotropic medications, characterizing the phenomenon known as the medicalization of life. In this context, the Family Health Strategy (FHS) represents a privileged setting for the development of care technologies that promote demedicalization, empowerment, and autonomy among individuals experiencing psychological distress. This study aimed to investigate the limitations and potentialities of Autonomous Medication Management (AMM) as a care strategy and as a means of confronting medicalization within the context of the FHS in a municipality in the interior of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. It also sought to understand participants’ experiences regarding the use of psychotropic medications and the meanings attributed to these drugs throughout their life and care trajectories. This qualitative study was conducted using an action research approach. The methodological procedures included the implementation of an AMM intervention group over eight months, participant observation, and the construction of narratives based on the experiences shared within the group. Field diaries and audio recordings were used as data production instruments. The findings revealed that medicalization permeates professional practices and constitutes one of the main responses to the demands presented by women receiving care in the FHS. These women frequently use psychotropic medications as a means of silencing suffering and its social determinants. Participants’ narratives highlighted experiences marked by the normalization of prolonged medication use, the central role of medical prescriptions in therapeutic pathways, and the search for relief from suffering produced in contexts of social and emotional vulnerability. These experiences demonstrate the complexity of the relationship established with psychotropic medications, which simultaneously serve functions of care, control, and adaptation to everyday adversities.