Etsy has been flooded with hats and candles asking the question: “Has Anyone Seen My Lorazepam?” Social media is rife with videos of people enunciating “lorazepam” in a faux Southern drawl. Lorazepam even made a cameo on a recent episode of “Saturday Night Live,” when the actress Chloe Fineman raucously shouted the word during a sketch.
As anyone even loosely familiar with Season 3 of “The White Lotus” may know, this sudden tsunami of references to a prescription medication used to treat anxiety is not a sign of mass desperation. Rather, it’s a manifestation of an unceasing fan obsession with Victoria Ratliff, a character on the HBO TV show, the current season of which ends on Sunday.
Played by Parker Posey, Victoria is a wealthy North Carolina woman on vacation at a wellness resort in Thailand, who, despite the idyllic setting, regularly expresses a need for her lorazepam, a drug known for being tough to quit.
A massage? It could make her “very stressed out” and “claustrophobic,” Victoria says. The lorazepam helps her “to really relax,” she tells a masseuse.
A party on a yacht? “Certain social situations make me anxious,” Victoria drawls at her eldest son, Saxon.
Her daughter Piper’s decision to make a major life change? “I don’t even have my lorazepam,” a distraught Victoria declares after her bottle goes missing. “I’m going to have to drink myself to sleep.”
The medication’s name is uttered as frequently as any character’s, making it seem like part of the cast. But the way it has permeated popular culture has everything to do with Ms. Posey, whose portrayal of Victoria involves a Southern accent that has offered a master class in the art of gleefully unfurling the syllables packed into a word.
“The way she says lorazepam has made it a catchphrase,” said Jason Sturgill, 49, an illustrator, art director and “White Lotus” fan, who lives in Portland, Ore. “It’s playing such a crucial part.”
Lorazepam is a generic drug produced by different companies and is sometimes referred to by its brand name, Ativan. It is part of a class of benzodiazepines that includes diazepam (Valium), clonazepam (Klonopin) and alprazolam (Xanax).
Nearly 20 percent of people who take benzodiazepines misuse them, according to a 2019 study. Publications like The New York Times, Cosmopolitan and CNN have rolled out articles warning about lorazepam’s potential for addiction and the risks of taking it with alcohol.
Daniel Marakhovsky, 31, a pharmacist in Brooklyn, said that Ms. Posey’s portrayal of Victoria really captures the mannerisms of someone taking the drug.
“The way I see it on the show, this is what I see from my patients,” Mr. Marakhovsky said. “The major side effects are all drowsiness and dizziness and confusion.”
Online, Victoria has been anointed with nicknames like “Our Queen of Lorazepam” or “Our Leading Lady of Lorazepam.” The “White Lotus” TikTok account has also leaned in, calling her “the benzo queen.” Merchandise made to capture the medication’s breakout moment has included a “White Lotus” themed bracelet with a lorazepam charm, a mug with Victoria in rose-colored glasses and a “Live Laugh Lorazepam” cross-stitch pattern.
The pattern’s seller, Julie Jackson, said none of her Instagram posts have received as much attention as the one she recently shared about the lorazepam design, which has received more than 60,000 likes. “I’ve never had anything go that crazy,” said Ms. Jackson, 60, the owner of Subversive Cross Stitch, who lives in Dallas.
Google searches for “lorazepam” had their biggest spike on record on March 10, the day after the current “White Lotus” season’s fourth episode aired. In it, Victoria’s husband, who is dealing with a professional crisis, covertly nabs her pill bottle. After he steals her lorazepam, she stops taking it while he takes more and more.
“They’re using lorazepam as a way to foil the husband and wife against each other,” said Sabrina Palacios, 32, who lives in Somerville, N.J. and posts videos about “The White Lotus” on TikTok. At the start of the show, she added, Victoria’s husband, Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs), “is the one making decisions, the communicator, the leader, and now she’s more the leader and coming out and he’s taking a back seat.”
One unanswered question is why the writers of “The White Lotus” chose lorazepam instead of any other benzodiazepine. A representative for HBO declined to comment.
Fortesa Latifi, 31, a journalist in Los Angeles who watches the show, wrote on Threads that “there are two types of people in the world: people who had to google ‘lorazepam’ while watching white lotus and people who didn’t.”
Ms. Latifi, who has written about chronic illness for publications including the Times, said in a call that she has taken medications similar to lorazepam for anxiety. “Lorazepam in my generation is kind of a character onto its own,” she said. “People know it; they know this class of drugs.”
She added that Xanax has a very particular reputation. “You think of college kids,” she said. “A rich older lady wouldn’t take Xanax. It has to be something fancier.”
