Hi,
Benzodiazepines like lorazepam are prescribed with caution in elderly patients because of the risk of excess
drowsiness, falls, dependence, tolerance etc. The agitation you see in your mother maybe because of a side effect of this drug seen in elderly known as 'paradoxical disinhibition' where you see irritability,
restlessness and agitation etc. These drugs are best avoided in elderly.
Drugs that are useful and safe are non-benzodiazepines like zolpidem, zaleplon etc and melatonin agonists like ramelteon.
Do not stop the drug abruptly, it can cause
withdrawal symptoms, it needs to be tapered down slowly over many weeks considering the fact she has already taken it for 8 months.
Also the cause of her insomnia has to confirmed, whether it is caused because of some drugs that she is taking chronically for any physical illness like
hypertension etc or, insomnia due to other mental illnesses like depressive disorder etc. Or if it is simply age related.
Consult a psychiatrist.
Hope this helps,
Dr A Rao