‘The White Lotus’ saw a surge in searches for one anxiety drug. Doctors give a stark warning

On the third season of The White Lotus – the hit drama about rich, troubled guests at luxury resorts and the staff forced to deal with them – matriarch Victoria Ratliff extols the benefits of the medication lorazepam on her social anxiety and trouble sleeping, leading her husband to steal her stash to cope with his own dark secrets.

But this week, researchers issued a stark warning after discovering that Google searches for the drug spiked by 1.6 million in the 12 weeks during and after the season was released in February. These searches included how and where to get the drug online.

“ For the treatment of anxiety, lorazepam is typically prescribed for the short term because long-term use can lead to tolerance and dependence as well as misuse,” UC San Diego School of Medicine’s Dr. Kevin Yang said in a statement Friday.

Victoria Ratliff, played by indie film legend Parker Posey, often combines the drug with white wine in the HBO show, leading her to become loopy and slur her words. Her financier husband Timothy, played by Jason Isaacs, also drinks while taking the drug and developing a dependence on the pills.

But drinking while taking lorazepam can put people into a coma. Dr Yang warned.

“Not only would he take it, but he would also combine it with alcohol, which we know is very dangerous,” he added.

Yang said that studies have shown nearly one in five people who are prescribed the benzodiazepines class of medications, which are known to slow down activity in your brain and nervous system, eventually end up misusing the drugs.

He said he was concerned because the show emphasized the benefits of lorazepam, but not potential risks and side effects, including dependence, respiratory depression – a condition that causes shallow breathing – and cognitive impairment.

“It didn’t really portray any of the adverse effects that might come from taking too much or from stopping it all of a sudden,” he said.

A concerning spike

The research from Yang and his team examined Google search rates for lorazepam between January 2022 and February 2025, finding that rates had remained stable before the release of the “The White Lotus” season three.

While searches for lorazepam spiked, queries for other benzodiazepines, such as alprazolam and clonazepam, remained at expected levels over the same 12-week period.

It remains unknown if people were actually prescribed the drug after watching the show. You cannot legally obtain the drug without a prescription.

“It shows that there might be a subset of people that are actually wanting to figure out how to obtain that medication online,” Dr. Eric Leas, an assistant professor at UC San Diego, said.

A jump in use – and misuse

Around 5 percent of the U.S. population have been prescribed benzodiazepines, and use grew by nearly half between 1996 and 2013 among middle-aged adults.

In 2019, American pharmacists filled an estimated 92 million benzodiazepine prescriptions, 20 percent of which – over 18 million – were for lorazepam, according to the American Addiction Centers.

While it is generally safe to take lorazepam as directed, 4.8 million individuals aged 12 and older misused lorazepam and other prescription benzodiazepines in 2020, according to the addiction experts.

The takeaway

Anyone who wants to take medication should talk to a doctor first, Yang stressed. “My suggestion would be to take everything that is portrayed in the media, whether that’s on TV, film or in music, with a grain of salt,” he added.

Yang recommends that search engines provide warnings when people are looking for information about the drug. The result of The Independent’s Google search for “how to get lorazepam prescribed” included a statement about consulting a healthcare professional and a warning of potential risks. However another search for “how to get lorazepam” did not result in a warning.

The doctor also advised that the entertainment industry and show producers take note of the potential impact of depicted drug use on viewer behavior and develop best practices around this type of content.

The season three finale of “The White Lotus” attracted 6.2 million viewers in April, one of the largest audiences of any HBO series.

HBO did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.