I got 2 hours of sleep, stressed out from losing a family member. took half of my normal dose ativan (lorazepam) around 3am. does no sleep make anxiety worse? can i take more ativan (lorazepam)? normal dose is .5 2x a day

Normal dose: Particularly at this time, take your usual dose of Ativan (lorazepam) to see you through the crisis. Don't depend only on drugs but make sure you have the family and friend support you need. Think about counselling if your feelings of stress continue. Sorry for your loss and all the best.

Ativan (lorazepam): People respond differently to this medication. So it is recommended not to do Ativan (lorazepam) dosing by yourself unless authorized by your physician

Therapy?: Have you yet tried any form of psychotherapy? Typically, the optimal combination of things to treat emotional issues such as anxiety or depression is medication (which, on your best day, is supposed to take the edge off symptoms) but the real gruntwork takes place in psychotherapist's consulting room.

A hard several days?: I'm glad you can find support here online during this holiday weekend, but please do take all the Dr's advice about finding intensive real psychotherapy this week. It's very important and I hope you'll find relief very soon. It will take time to really get life into good shape, but there will be big improvements to enjoy early on!

Anxiety and insomnia: Insomnia makes many things worse but there are other therapies such as therapeutic journaling, that can help with both sleep and grief. https://www.fammed.wisc.edu/sites/default/files//webfm-uploads/documents/outreach/im/handout_journaling.pdf