Abstract
The experience of incarceration constitutes an extreme form of social isolation, with profound effects on mental health. This article reflects on the use of psychotropic drugs in prison settings as an institutional response to emotional suffering, especially among women prisoners. It draws on findings from research conducted using data collected during the pandemic in the city of Santa Fe, Argentina, which show an increase in the medicalization of anxiety as a therapeutic response. It proposes a critical reading that links isolation, stigmatization, and medicalization as interdependent dimensions of incarceration.