During the past decade pharmacological research has greatly enhanced the understanding of several variables affecting the prescription of psychotropic medication. One variable of increasingly recognized importance is the gender of the patient. Significant gender differences have been described for psychiatric disease prevalence, symptom presentation, treatment-seeking behavior, and receipt of psychotropic medication. Despite these findings little has been investigated in the potential gender differences in efficacy, dosage, and side effects influenced by pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic properties of psychotropic medications. This leaves an important gap in information of potential clinical importance. This relatively young field of study has a number of variables to consider including the impact of psychosocial issues, environmental components, and genetic and hormonal influences. We will review literature on the impact of gender on psychotropic medications and make recommendations for further research.