In Western societies, the use of psychotropic substances, becoming «psychiatric medications», constitutes the central mechanism for facing a wide array of painful psychic and social experiences. This paper aims to understand the role played by psychopharmacological treatment in the lives of people who frequent the psychiatric services network. It does this through a cross-sectional analysis of two studies that, though they had their own objectives, dealt with the users' relationships to psychotropic drugs. The idea is to grasp the «within» — in other words, to understand the impact of psychopharmacology in peoples' lives, staying as close as possible to their experiences and strategies. It is also essential to understand the socio-cultural conditions, constraints and systemic effects that contribute to the social construction of these experiences. The analysis highlights the significant constraints imposed upon people using the psychiatric services system when it orients its practices primarily towards monitoring compliance with pharmacological prescriptions.