When Life Imitates Art: Google Searches for Anxiety Drug Spike During Run of The White Lotus TV Show

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• Susanne Clara Bard- [email protected]

Topics covered:

• Internet
• Drugs
• Behavior
• Television

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In season three of the hit television series The White Lotus, the character Victoria Ratliff takes the prescription anti-anxiety medication lorazepam to help with her social anxiety and inability to sleep. Her casual usage of the powerful benzodiazepine - often in combination with white wine - leads to her becoming visibly loopy, slurring her words, and falling asleep at dinner.

A recent study led by researchers at University of California San Diego has found that the show's portrayal of lorazepam use was associated with a surge in Google searches for the medication, including queries related to acquiring it online.

The findings suggest that the show generated 1.6 million more searches for lorazepam over a 12-week period than what would normally be expected for the time period. This increase in interest was not observed for other commonly prescribed benzodiazepines, such as alprazolam and clonazepam, which were not mentioned in the show.

"It's a really interesting phenomenon of how entertainment media can really reflect and drive human behavior," said lead author Kevin Yang, M.D., resident physician in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

The study also analyzed searches for how and where to acquire lorazepam online.

"We saw significant increases in searches related to acquiring lorazepam as well," said senior author Eric Leas, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor at UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and affiliate faculty at Qualcomm Institute. "It shows that there might be a subset of people that are actually wanting to figure out how to obtain that medication online."

During the course of the season, Victoria Ratliff offers lorazepam to her husband Timothy, who eventually steals her pills and develops a dependence on the drug amid a personal financial crisis.

"Not only would he take it, but he would also combine it with alcohol, which we know is very dangerous," said Yang. " 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. Studies have shown that almost one in five people who are prescribed benzodiazepines eventually end up misusing them."

That's concerning because the show emphasized the benefits of lorazepam usage, not the potential risks, such as dependence, respiratory depression and cognitive impairment, according to Yang.

"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.

Yang recommends 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, which could include warnings at the beginning and the end of each episode. He also recommends that search engines provide informational warnings when people search for how to obtain the drug online, focusing on accurate, evidence-based information and support resources.

For viewers, Yang suggests taking a skeptical approach when searching for information online.

"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 said. "It's only showing one aspect of the medication, and that there are possible downsides. But ultimately, for things like medications, it's important to talk with your doctor."

The study was published on November 14, 2025 in JAMA Health Forum.