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Etsy has been flooded with hats and candles asking the question: \u201cHas Anyone Seen My Lorazepam?\u201d Social media is rife with videos of people enunciating \u201clorazepam\u201d in a faux Southern drawl. Lorazepam even made a cameo on a recent episode of \u201cSaturday Night Live,\u201d when the actress Chloe Fineman raucously shouted the word during a sketch.<\/p>\n
As anyone even loosely familiar with Season 3 of \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d may know, this sudden tsunami of references to a prescription medication used to treat anxiety is not a sign of mass desperation. Rather, it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Played by Parker Posey<\/a>, 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>.<\/p>\n A massage? It could make her \u201cvery stressed out\u201d and \u201cclaustrophobic,\u201d Victoria says. The lorazepam helps her \u201cto really relax,\u201d she tells a masseuse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A party on a yacht? \u201cCertain social situations make me anxious,\u201d Victoria drawls at her eldest son, Saxon.<\/p>\n Her daughter Piper\u2019s decision to make a major life change? \u201cI don\u2019t even have my lorazepam,\u201d a distraught Victoria declares after her bottle goes missing. \u201cI\u2019m going to have to drink myself to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The medication\u2019s name is uttered as frequently as any character\u2019s, 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<\/a> that has offered a master class in the art of gleefully unfurling the syllables packed into a word.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way she says lorazepam has made it a catchphrase,\u201d said Jason Sturgill, 49, an illustrator, art director and \u201cWhite Lotus\u201d fan, who lives in Portland, Ore. \u201cIt\u2019s playing such a crucial part.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 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).<\/p>\n Nearly 20 percent of people who take benzodiazepines misuse them, according to a 2019 study<\/a>. Publications like The New York Times<\/a>, Cosmopolitan<\/a> and CNN<\/a> have rolled out articles warning about lorazepam\u2019s potential for addiction and the risks of taking it with alcohol. <\/p>\n Daniel Marakhovsky, 31, a pharmacist in Brooklyn, said that Ms. Posey\u2019s portrayal of Victoria really captures the mannerisms of someone taking the drug.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way I see it on the show, this is what I see from my patients,\u201d Mr. Marakhovsky said. \u201cThe major side effects are all drowsiness and dizziness and confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n Online, Victoria has been anointed with nicknames like \u201cOur Queen of Lorazepam<\/a>\u201d or \u201cOur Leading Lady of Lorazepam<\/a>.\u201d The \u201cWhite Lotus\u201d TikTok account has also leaned in, calling<\/a> her \u201cthe benzo queen.\u201d Merchandise made to capture the medication\u2019s breakout moment has included a \u201cWhite Lotus\u201d themed bracelet<\/a> with a lorazepam charm, a mug<\/a> with Victoria in rose-colored glasses and a \u201cLive Laugh Lorazepam\u201d cross-stitch pattern<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The pattern\u2019s 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. \u201cI\u2019ve never had anything go that crazy,\u201d said Ms. Jackson, 60, the owner of Subversive Cross Stitch<\/a>, who lives in Dallas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Google searches for \u201clorazepam\u201d had their biggest spike on record<\/a> on March 10, the day after the current \u201cWhite Lotus\u201d season\u2019s fourth episode aired. In it, Victoria\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re using lorazepam as a way to foil the husband and wife against each other,\u201d said Sabrina Palacios, 32, who lives in Somerville, N.J. and posts videos about \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d on TikTok. At the start of the show, she added, Victoria\u2019s husband, Timothy Ratliff<\/a> (Jason Isaacs), \u201cis the one making decisions, the communicator, the leader, and now she\u2019s more the leader and coming out and he\u2019s taking a back seat.\u201d<\/p>\n One unanswered question is why the writers of \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d chose lorazepam instead of any other benzodiazepine. A representative for HBO declined to comment.<\/p>\n