After “White Lotus” Lorazepam lives in memes and March

Etsy asks, “Has anyone ever seen my Lorazepam?” Social media is present in videos of people declaring “Lorazepam” on fake southern draws. Lorazepam made a cameo on a recent episode of “Saturday Night Live” when actress Chloe Feynman cried out loud while sketching.

Anyone familiar with “White Lotus” season 3 may know, but this sudden tsunami of references to prescription drugs used to treat anxiety is not a sign of a ton of despair. Rather, it is a manifestation of a constant fan obsession with HBO TV show character Victoria Ratriv, whose current season ends on Sunday.

Victoria, played by Parker Posey, is a wealthy North Carolina woman on vacation at a Thai wellness resort, and despite her idyllic environment, she regularly expresses the need for Lorazepam. It's hard to stop.

massage? It can make her “very stressed out” and “claustrophobic,” says Victoria. Lorazepam helps her “really relax,” she tells the masseuse.

Yacht party? “Specific social situations make me worried,” Victoria draws on her eldest son, Saxon.

The decision to change the big life of her daughter Piper? “I don't even have Lorazepam,” distraught Victoria declares that she lacks bottles. “I'll have to drink myself to sleep.”

The drug's names are pronounced as often as the character's names, which makes them appear to be part of the cast. But the way it permeated popular culture has something to do with Posey in his portrayal of Victoria. Southern accents It provided a masterclass in the arts that will gladly spread the syllables stuffed into words.

“The way she says Lorazepam made it a catchphrase,” said Jason Sturgill, an illustrator, art director and “White Lotus” fan who lives in Portland, Oregon.

Lorazepam is a common drug produced by various companies and is sometimes mentioned under the brand name Ativan. This is part of the class of benzodiazepines, including diazepam (barium), clonazepam (clonopine), and alprazolam (Xanax).

Almost 20% of people taking Benzodiazepines misuse them. 2019 Survey. Publications like New York Times, cosmopolitan and CNN We have published an article warning about the possibility of lorazepam addiction and the risk of taking it with alcohol.

Brooklyn pharmacist Daniel Malahovsky, 31, said that Victoria's portrayal of Posey really captures the habits of people taking the medicine.

“How to see it on the show, this is what my patients see,” Malakhovsky said. “All major side effects are sleepiness, dizziness and confusion.”

Online, Victoria is anointed with nicknames like “.Queen of Lorazepam” or “Our top-notch women at Lorazepam. “The White Lotus Tiktoc account is also leaning. phone Her “Queen of Benzo.” Includes products made to capture the moment of a drug breakout “White Lotus” bracelet With the charm of Lorazepam, Mug Victoria wears rosy glasses and has a “live laughing lolazepam” cross stitch pattern.

Pattern seller Julie Jackson said none of her Instagram posts were as hot as the one she shared about Lorazepam's designs, which she recently received over 60,000 likes. “I've never been so crazy,” said Jackson, 60. Destructive Cross Stitchsomeone who lives in Dallas.

Google searched “Lorazepam” The biggest spike on record March 10th, the day after the fourth episode of the current “White Lotus” season aired. In it, Victoria's husband, who is dealing with a professional crisis, secretly grabs her pill bottle. After he steals her Lorazepam, she stops taking it while he is taking more and more.

“They use Lorazepam as a way to stop husbands and wives from each other,” said Sabrina Palacios, 32, of Summerville, New Jersey, who posted a video about Tiktok's “white lotus.” At the start of the show, she was Victoria's husband, Timothy Ratriff (Jason Isaacs), “Decision-making, communicator, leader, and now she's more of a leader, and he's taking the back seat.”

One unanswered question is why the writer of “The White Lotus” chose Lorazepam over the other benzodiazepines. A representative from HBO declined to comment.

Fortesa Latifi, 31, a Los Angeles journalist, wrote after watching the show. thread “There are two types of people in the world: those who had to google “Lorazepam” while watching White Lotus and those who didn't. ”

Latifie, who wrote about chronic illnesses in publications, including the Times, said on the phone that she took medications like Lorazepam because of anxiety. “Lorazepam of my generation is a kind of character in its own right,” she said. “People know that. They know this class of drugs.”

She added that Xanax has a very special reputation. “You're thinking about college students,” she said. “The rich older woman wouldn't take Xanax away. It has to be more fancy.”