The lorazepam label lists alcohol, antidepressants and antipsychotics together as drugs that add to its sedation
Ativan's label: benzodiazepines "produce increased CNS-depressant effects when administered with other CNS depressants such as alcohol, barbiturates, antipsychotics, sedative/hypnotics, anxiolytics, antidepressants, narcotic analgesics".
Reasonable evidence with real limitations. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: The label lists classes, not doses; it does not say how much alcohol changes the effect, and no figure for that was read.
"Can I have a drink on this" is the most common interaction question, and the lorazepam label answers it in one list that also includes the other psychiatric drugs a person is likely to be on.
Significant findings
ATIVAN prescribing information (Bausch Health, November 2025), Drug Interactions: "The benzodiazepines, including Ativan (lorazepam), produce increased CNS-depressant effects when administered with other CNS depressants such as alcohol, barbiturates, antipsychotics, sedative/hypnotics, anxiolytics, antidepressants, narcotic analgesics, sedative antihistamines, anticonvulsants, and anesthetics."
The boxed warning is the same as every benzodiazepine's: "Concomitant use of benzodiazepines and opioids may result in profound sedation, respiratory depression, coma, and death," and "Abuse and misuse of benzodiazepines commonly involve concomitant use of other medications, alcohol, and/or illicit substances, which is associated with an increased frequency of serious adverse outcomes."
The mechanism sentence: "The concomitant use of benzodiazepines and opioids increases the risk of respiratory depression because of actions at different receptor sites in the CNS that control respiration." And a dosing instruction for the combination: "In patients already receiving an opioid analgesic, prescribe a lower initial dose of Ativan than indicated in the absence of an opioid".
Worth asking
Alcohol on this list is not a moral point; it is pharmacology. Alcohol and benzodiazepines act on the same receptor, so one drink on lorazepam is not one drink. The antidepressants and antipsychotics on the same list are the reason a person on several psychiatric drugs may be far more sedated by a small amount of alcohol than they expect. If you drink, the question for the prescriber is how much your particular combination changes the effect of one drink, and whether driving the next morning is affected.
Source
ATIVAN (lorazepam) tablets: FDA-approved prescribing information, Boxed Warning, Warnings and Drug Interactions — Bausch Health US LLC; US Food and Drug Administration (2025)
Regulator or national health body
How this was scored
- Study design
- Regulatory safety determination
- Funding
- Industry funded
- Published in
- Regulator or national health body
- Sample size
- not recorded
- Preregistered
- not recorded
- Conflicts disclosed
- not recorded
- Independent of proponent
- not recorded
- Retracted
- No
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published September 21, 2026.
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
veisund rates this source "moderate evidence". Reasonable evidence with real limitations. It scores 57 out of 100 on our published rubric. One caveat travels with that badge: The label lists classes, not doses; it does not say how much alcohol changes the effect, and no figure for that was read. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
ATIVAN (lorazepam) tablets: FDA-approved prescribing information, Boxed Warning, Warnings and Drug Interactions — Bausch Health US LLC; US Food and Drug Administration (2025). Published in: Regulator or national health body. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Who paid for this research, and does that matter?
Study design: Regulatory safety determination. Funding: Industry funded. Independence from the proponent is not recorded. Industry sponsorship is one of the most reliably measured biases in medicine, which is why funding carries real weight in the score rather than sitting in a footnote.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.