Ativan, Benzodiazepine Addiction, Prescription Drugs, Rehab, Therapy, Treatment

Why You Should Never Buy Ativan Online: Understanding the Risks

June 11, 2025

Anxiety is a familiar feeling that surfaces every now and again, one that affects more of us than we might initially presume. Nearly one-third of all Americans deal with anxiety at some point or another in their lives, which can eventually lead to the development of an anxiety disorder, affecting 40 million people annually.

However prevalent it may be, studies show that of the 6.8 million people diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (the most common of anxiety disorders), only 43.2% receive treatment, notes the Anxiety & Depression Association of America. That doesn’t consider the number of people with untreated anxiety disorder and the additional problems it can cause.

Those undiagnosed or untreated mental health conditions are linked to the tendency for people to self-medicate away their symptoms with alcohol, drugs, or other unhealthy substances. Research shows that 40% of people resort to non-prescribed drugs to assuage their symptoms without proper help, which “can lead to people seeking benzodiazepines and other sleep medications that are not helpful for long-term use,” says Dr. Sandra Swantek, quoted in an American Medical Association study.

One of those benzodiazepines goes by the name Ativan, commonly used to treat anxiety. The temptation to buy Ativan online might be strong, especially if you recognize your anxiety has become problematic but feel reluctant to seek treatment.

And though the internet makes obtaining medications under the table tempting and easy, the risks of buying Ativan without a prescription and trying to treat anxiety symptoms yourself outweigh the perceived benefits, posing serious consequences to your health and safety, potentially worsening anxiety in the process.

Let’s take a closer look at what Ativan is, how it works, and why the right steps matter when it comes to treatment.

What Is Ativan?

Ativan is the brand name for lorazepam, a short-acting benzodiazepine that works by enhancing the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter in your brain that communicates with different areas of your body where anxiety symptoms may manifest. Ativan’s ability to increase GABA production and slow down hyperactive brain activity creates a calming, sedative effect, beneficial to counteract the effects of anxiety and any resulting stress.

It’s usually prescribed for treating:

Easing symptoms of anxiety disorders

Depression brought on by anxiety

Pre-surgery anxiety (normally administered intravenously beforehand)

Status epilepticus — a type of dangerous seizure lasting more than five minutes

Ativan Use Stats

Data on Ativan — and benzodiazepines in general — speaks to the drug’s therapeutic and medical value as well as its potential for misuse:

In 2019, over 92 million benzodiazepine prescriptions (including those for lorazepam) were written.

In 2020, 16.1 million people misused prescription psychotherapeutic drugs — 4.8 million who misused benzodiazepines, including lorazepam.

68% of participants in a 2021 study reported a lifetime history of benzodiazepine prescriptions, with 26% indicating lifelong abuse of them.

Benzodiazepines were involved in nearly one-third of prescription overdose deaths in 2013, second only to opioids, according to the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition.

From 2000 to 2018, benzodiazepine overdose fatalities rose eight times.

Frequently combined with other substances, 15% of respondents in a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs survey admitted mixing benzodiazepines with heroin.

Older adults have a higher incidence of benzodiazepine use than younger adults.

Do I Need a Prescription for Ativan?

Yes — for treating anxiety, Ativan or any other benzodiazepines are only clinically and legally available through a prescription from a doctor.

To obtain Ativan legitimately, you need to schedule an appointment with a qualified mental or behavioral health provider. During this assessment, you’ll discuss your symptoms thoroughly — how frequent are they, and how have they been intrusive to your daily life and functioning? You’ll answer questions about any family history of anxiety or if you have other substance abuse or mental health issues that co-occur with anxiety.

However, the next step is not being prescribed drugs. In fact, it’s often not something people entering treatment see until a bit further down the line. The first step to treating anxiety is to start therapy with a counselor or psychologist to get to the heart of your anxiety. Session by session, you can begin to dig deeper into taking a good, honest look at how anxiety takes a toll on you mentally, emotionally, and even physically. Your mutual goal in therapy is to help you confront the triggers that make you anxious and reduce your fear of them by reframing your mental narrative and developing a more positive mindset, renewed self-assurance, and a set of pragmatic coping skills to use when anxiety-inducing moments arise in life.

In essence, therapeutic treatment is designed to help you conquer your anxiety on your own, without the help of medications. However, your therapist may determine — depending on the severity of your condition or the progress you’ve made in therapy — that taking them may be advisable for the short term.

Who is Able to Write Ativan Prescriptions?

Prescriptions for Ativan can only be written by licensed medical professionals, such as primary care doctors, psychiatrists, or nurse practitioners. If you’re in therapy for anxiety and your therapist recommends that you be put on medication, you’ll be referred to a psychiatrist, who can determine if medication is appropriate for your situation.

After meeting with you for a consultation and reviewing your treatment history with your therapist, they’ll write you a prescription, determining the proper dosage and duration of treatment to maximize the drug’s benefits while minimizing your risks.

Once you start taking Ativan exactly as instructed, you’ll continue talk therapy, where your providers will monitor your response to the drug, check for any side effects, and adjust treatment as needed.

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Anxiety Statistics

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in America, notes the ADAA:

Forty million adults — just over 19% of the entire population — are affected by anxiety disorders each year.

Women are two times as likely to experience GAD and panic disorder as men, three times more likely to suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder than men, and five times more likely to suffer from PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Most people develop anxiety disorder symptoms before the age of 21, notes NAMI.

In adults with any anxiety disorder, nearly 23% suffer seriously, with 33.7% being moderately affected, notes the National Institute of Mental Health.

According to the American Medical Association, GAD has a prevalence of 10.5% in pregnant women and 10.8% in the postpartum period.

Studies show that more than 17% of people with a substance use disorder within the last year also met the criteria for an anxiety disorder.

Globally, the annual cost of anxiety disorders is estimated at more than $6.5 trillion, nearly 2.1% of all healthcare-related expenses, according to research.

What Is Anxiety Treatment?

NAMI notes that because different anxiety disorders have their own unique symptoms, each one should have its own anxiety treatment plan.

However, most anxiety treatment programs include a standard combination of therapies and medication. The goal when pursuing professional help for an anxiety disorder is to help address the underlying causes of your anxiety and start to unpack how it affects your thoughts, which in turn affects your emotions, and then your behaviors.

Through anxiety treatment, you’ll then start to learn coping skills and tools to make anxiety more manageable — and most importantly, be able to live your life fully without having to avoid the people, places, and situations that make you anxious.

Evidence-based Psychotherapy for Anxiety

It’s remarkable how talking through your problems with a counselor can open so many pathways to recovery and so many insights into yourself, making psychotherapy such a valuable component of anxiety treatment. Psychotherapy is a one-to-one talk therapy with a therapist or psychologist you may be familiar with — a safe, comfortable environment where you can begin to unfold and understand, over multiple sessions, how your anxiety affects you.

Behavioral therapy at anxiety rehab centers can take shape in a few ways. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps you identify and change negative thought patterns that may fuel anxiety. By recognizing distorted thinking, you can reevaluate it in light of reality and develop healthier ways to respond to anxiety triggers.

Then there are approaches like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT enables you to remain present in the moment and accept, without judgment, your emotions attached to your anxiety. (For instance, it’s OK to feel embarrassed or ashamed in social situations when struggling with SAD.) By detaching from that negativity rather than fighting or feeling guilty about it, you can commit to making mental, emotional, and behavioral changes that support your values.

Likewise, exposure therapy is another method you might try in anxiety treatment. Its purpose is to illustrate that by confronting your fears, you have the power to change the negative associations you have with them and overcome your anxiety.

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Is It Legal to Get Ativan Without a Prescription?

In the United States, buying Ativan without a prescription from a doctor is not legal. Trying to forge or fake a prescription could carry criminal charges, and possessing illegal prescription drugs is also unlawful in most states in the U.S. due to the public health implications.

“Yes, it is illegal to use prescription drugs without a valid prescription or to distribute them,” notes the National Drug Intelligence Center. “The penalties associated with the abuse or illegal distribution of prescription drugs vary depending upon the drug type.”

The Dangers of Buying Ativan Online

Can you buy Ativan online? There might be many reasons compelling you to order Ativan online and bypass the proper prescriptive channels from a doctor or psychiatrist. It could be convenience, cost, reluctance to seek therapy, or a desire to allay anxiety or depression yourself. And many websites claim to sell the medication without needing a prescription.

“There are many unsafe online pharmacies that claim to sell prescription drugs at deeply discounted prices, often without requiring a prescription,” notes the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). “These internet-based pharmacies often sell unapproved, counterfeit or otherwise unsafe medicines outside the safeguards followed by licensed pharmacies.”

Consider how attempting to purchase Ativan online isn’t worth endangering your health or well-being:

Questionable/unknown medical quality: The FDA notes that many unsafe online pharmacies sell medications with too much or too little of a drug’s active ingredient (in Ativan’s case, lorazepam) or contain the wrong ingredients or even harmful substances. The manufacture of illegal Ativan is completely unregulated with no way of knowing what you’ll be putting in your body. When you purchase Ativan online from such sources, it may be counterfeit, expired or stored improperly, making it potentially ineffective or dangerous.

No medical oversight: An official pharmacy like CVS, Walgreens or your local provider will always require a doctor’s prescription before granting you a supply of Ativan. But websites that allow you to order Ativan online without a prescription are operating illegally. Without proper medical supervision, you’re bypassing the processes that drug manufacturers take to screen medication for efficacy or potential side effects.

False storefront operations: The FDA warns that many illegal online pharmacies use fake storefronts designed to resemble licensed pharmacies or to suggest that their medicines originate from countries with proper safety standards. “But the medicines they sell could have been made anywhere, with little care or concern for safety and effectiveness,” notes the FDA.

Legal implications: Many international pharmacies — such as those selling Mexican Ativan — may not adhere to federal laws or operate within U.S. regulations for manufacturing and exporting medications.

The FDA notes that a safe online pharmacy will always mandate a doctor’s prescription, provide a physical address and an American-based phone number on their website, and be licensed by a state board of pharmacy with a licensed pharmacist on staff available to address questions or concerns.

Is Ativan Addictive?

The U.S. Controlled Substances Act classifies drugs into five tiers — Schedules I through V — for both their efficacy and abuse/addiction potential. Ativan is a Schedule IV controlled substance and, like other benzodiazepines, has an extremely high risk of dependence, habit formation and addiction if taken for several days to weeks.

How is Ativan addictive? Taken as prescribed, it’s a central nervous system depressant that’s meant to calm brain activity, and to minimize the risk of addiction, your doctor should prescribe the lowest dosage possible to start.

But at higher doses or for more extended periods than prescribed, your brain can become dependent on Ativan’s effects. Over time, the brain may reduce its natural production of calming chemicals, instead relying on medication.

What are Some Signs and Symptoms of Ativan Addiction?

Indicators of an Ativan or benzodiazepine addiction can show themselves in numerous behavioral changes similar to getting hooked on other drugs.

It might start with taking more of the drug than prescribed, or not being able to reduce your dosage or stop.

Most addictions create a preoccupation with taking a substance. Ativan is no exception, where you or a loved one might spend an inordinate amount of time taking the drug to the point that it interferes with work, school, family, or personal commitments. Look for patterns like seeking multiple prescriptions, attempting to buy Ativan online without a prescription, increased secrecy, and continued use of Ativan despite the negative consequences.

Those consequences of Ativan addiction can result in physical and emotional symptoms ranging from slurred speech and impaired coordination to exacerbated anxiety — the opposite of what Ativan aims to help — over one’s Ativan supply or their inability to cope without it.

Ativan Addiction Treatment Options

Help for Ativan addiction is available and accessible right now. The right recovery path at a treatment center should follow a continuum of care that addresses everything from physical withdrawal to the emotional landscape of drug dependency to maintaining your sobriety long after rehab has ended.

Here’s what treatment options can look like:

Ativan Detox

Coming off a drug like Ativan can create the onset of withdrawal symptoms (which can last anywhere from several weeks to a year). You might initially feel a general sense of increased anxiety, discomfort, irritability, nausea, or appetite changes, but in more severe examples, tremors, speech issues, jaundice, irregular heartbeat, or skin rashes can occur.

The goal of detox — the first step in treatment — is to taper you off Ativan and gradually reduce your dependence on the drug while minimizing and mitigating the effects of these withdrawal symptoms. A medically supervised detox is recommended at a rehab center, since the staff of doctors, nurses, and addiction specialists can monitor your vital signs, administer medication (if needed), and avoid any complications that may arise. Detox is designed to make you comfortable with a level of support absent from trying to quit on your own.

Residential Treatment for Ativan Abuse

Also known as inpatient treatment, the structure of a residential rehab program suits well people whose Ativan addictions have left them unable to live independently without a daily risk of relapse. In this safe space, you’ll be enabled to live at the facility for a duration of time, away from access to Ativan or the influences that might trigger use.

Residential rehab is intensive; you’ll see a schedule of talk therapy several hours a day, five days a week. One standard approach is individual therapy, where you’ll engage in sessions with a therapist to talk through your issues. What are the underlying reasons behind your anxiety and Ativan use? Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is one type of popular therapy to help answer these questions, helping you to address the negative thought patterns contributing to addiction.

Likewise, group therapy and an assortment of holistic treatments may be part of your inpatient schedule, both of which deliver support and insight from other peers in recovery and wellness-based therapies designed to strengthen the mind-body-spirit connection that Ativan misuse can weaken.

Outpatient Treatment for Ativan Abuse

If you need to keep working or caring for family and can’t commit to rehab, it doesn’t mean you need to forego treatment or choose one or the other. Outpatient treatment for Ativan addiction becomes a flexible option to maintain your personal and professional commitments while staying the course of recovery.

During outpatient, you might attend intensive daily therapy sessions or a few hours of treatment per week, but with the ability to return home and sleep in your own bed each night. Outpatient is best for people whose Ativan or benzodiazepine dependencies are milder and who don’t need round-the-clock supervision and care. Or, if you’ve completed a residential program, outpatient is an ideal segue to continuing your care while re-adopting some independence.

You can take control of this recovery by contacting us today and finding out more about help for Ativan addiction, anxiety treatment, or other questions you have about rehab. It’s never too late to take that first step toward a happier, healthier life. Change your life with one phone call.

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