The consumption of psychotropic drugs in the benzodiazepine category has attained high proportions in recent years. Among these medications, clonazepam stands out in reports of international agencies as one of the world's most highly consumed substances of this kind. Most patients who make chronic use of benzodiazepines are female, 40 or older, and they have used the medication for more than two years. Considering that these patients have histories related to adverse social contexts, this study analyzes the interference of these contexts in the high consumption of benzodiazepines, a phenomenon that occurs in Brazil. A case study was conducted by a qualitative nature with exploratory and descriptive purposes. Non-structured interviews were used for data collection, specifically the technique known as life history.