Trajectories in knowledge about women and psychotropic drugs: Challenges for health research

Abstract

This essay addresses the relationship between women and psychotropic drugs as a problem of scientific knowledge
in order to discuss its main trajectories and challenges. The methodology consists of a critical review of the scientific literature on gender biases in mental health, gender differentials in psychotropic drugs and the study of their prescription to women during the last decade. Based on an analytical-reflexive approach, it is argued that in the most recent body of knowledge, four trajectories are intertwined: the biomedical perspective, the focus on risk, the focus on reproductive health and the gender inequality perspective.
It is argued that gender biases persist in the understanding of the phenomenon, showing that it has been a controversial issue, crossed by theoretical and ethical debates that suggest fundamental challenges for research in women’s mental health.