Research conducted in a province of Italy evidences that the consumption of psychotropic drugs mostly involves women, the elderly with chronic illnesses, and people who have experienced breakdown in a primary affective relation (separation, divorce, partner’s death), as well as workers in precarious employment. As emerges from the debate on medicalization, psychotropic drugs are prescribed not only to treat specific psychopathologies but also to reduce the common emotions of loneliness and insecurity.
Keywords: Medicalization, emotions, psychotropic drugs, loneliness, insecurity, social capital