A 15-year-old girl has died after reportedly taking part in the so-called ‘Benadryl challenge,’ a social media trend that involves dangerous misuse of the allergy medication diphenhydramine.
Reports say the challenge has circulated among teenagers and children in the US, encouraging them to take diphenhydramine, an over-the-counter antihistamine found in Benadryl and other allergy or sleep products.
For adults and children 12 and older, typical oral dosing is 25 mg to 50 mg every four to six hours as needed, with a maximum of 300 mg in 24 hours for many common tablet products.
The online challenge, however, promotes taking far larger quantities. Some videos encourage users to swallow as many as 12 tablets at once, which can quickly push the dose into a dangerous range depending on the product strength.
At those levels, the risk of overdose becomes severe.
In June 2026, America’s Poison Centers said calls involving diphenhydramine abuse among teens had risen sharply, with intentional abuse accounting for a larger share of teen diphenhydramine-only cases than in previous years.
Following the latest death, the Grantville Police Department shared a warning for parents on Facebook.
“Please speak to your children.”
The department also outlined what the challenge involves and why it is so dangerous.
“What is the ‘Benadryl Challenge? The challenge urges viewers to take as many as 12 tablets at a time to supposedly induce hallucinations. For perspective, the maximum allowed dose in a 24-hour period is six tablets for children 6 to under 12 years of age and 12 tablets for adults and children over 12 years of age. Taking more than the recommended amount can lead to nausea, seizures or even death.”
Health officials have long warned that taking higher than recommended doses of diphenhydramine can cause serious heart problems, seizures, coma and death, and poison control experts advise immediate medical attention if someone becomes hallucinating, unresponsive, has trouble breathing or collapses.
The challenge was widely warned against in 2020 after reports linked it to severe overdoses and deaths. Despite repeated warnings, it has continued to reappear on social media.
The challenge has since resurfaced, and it has now been connected to the death of Oklahoma teenager Leah Presson.
News reported that Leah had been ‘fighting for life’ after suffering seizures caused by ingesting the medication.
Her father, Richard Presson, later confirmed that she died on June 14.
Leah was 15 and from Enid, Oklahoma. Her father said the family wanted to warn other parents and teenagers about the dangers of social media trends that encourage medication misuse.
A previous statement published on J&J’s Benadryl website said:
“The challenge, which involves ingestion of excessive quantities of diphenhydramine, is a dangerous trend and should be stopped immediately. Benadryl products and other diphenhydramine products should only be used as directed by the label. […] Collaboration and education are critical to putting an end to this dangerous misuse. We are working with TikTok and other social platforms to remove content that showcases this behaviour. We will look to partner across industry and with key stakeholders to address this dangerous behaviour.”