From the Jama network: “On February 16, 2025, HBO Max released the third season of The White Lotus, which featured a central storyline in which a character repeatedly used lorazepam for anxiety, with frequent on-screen references to this benzodiazepine. Given that shows on streaming platforms can contribute to public interest and health behaviors and lorazepam carries misuse risk, we evaluated whether The White Lotus season 3 release was associated with increased public interest in lorazepam and compared trends with other commonly prescribed benzodiazepines.
This cross-sectional study suggests that the release of the third season of The White Lotus was associated with increased public interest in lorazepam, generating 1.6 million excess searches. This increase, which also included queries associated with acquiring lorazepam online, was not observed for other benzodiazepines and aligned with prior research on how the media is associated with information-seeking and behavior.”
