Francisco Collazos
Head of Adult Mental Health at Fundació Hospitalàries Barcelona, assistant psychiatrist at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital psychiatry department, and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)
This is a rigorous and methodologically sound study, as well as being scientifically serious and published in a high-impact journal. It also offers an original perspective. The study covers internet searches from 2022 to 2025, and there is a clear peak following the release of a hit series in which one of the main characters uses lorazepam in a way that is not at all unfamiliar to the reality we have in Spain.
Lorazepam is a benzodiazepine, an anxiolytic, and sadly, our country leads the way in prescribing this type of drug. I believe this sends a warning message to prescribers, who are both psychiatrists and primary care physicians, as we may be too quick to try to alleviate this anxiety, which is also something that the community demands. The difficulty in tolerating anxiety and stress in the West is high, and in our environment, these types of drugs are often prescribed. It should be added that these are substances with addictive potential, as they generate tolerance (to obtain the same result, you have to progressively increase the dose) and dependence, since their withdrawal can cause withdrawal symptoms.
The profile of users of this drug is usually middle-aged, coinciding with the protagonist of the series who consumes it, and who also takes it with alcohol, which makes it even more harmful due to the combined consumption of these substances, both of which are central nervous system depressants, and with a greater potential to cause problems in the long term. As a psychiatrist, I am not surprised that this user profile, which is very common in our society, has been chosen.
The study demonstrates the impact and influence that the media can have, especially these series, where certain characters can serve as role models with whom viewers can identify or onto whom they can project similar symptoms that lead them to seek information. That is what the paper points out; it is nothing else, it is not an increase in actual use.