In the last two months, three Connecticut children have passed away after participating in a social media challenge they saw on TikTok. The cause of their death is apparently overdosing on an active ingredient in Benadryl. Furthermore, this social media challenge has also left a 15-year-old girl brain-dead after she participated in the TikTok trend.
The Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) confirmed the deaths of the three youths on Monday, June 15, 2026. However, they did not confirm if the deaths were related to the social media challenge.
The Social Media Challenge
The “Benadryl Challenge” first started trending in 2020 and has since re-emerged on social media. “Diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl and several other over-the-counter drugs, was responsible for the apparent overdoses,” the OCA said.
Dr. Gary Soffer, a pediatrician at the Yale School of Medicine, stated that youth participating in the social media challenge “are taking up to 10 times the recommended doses, because it can elicit some psychedelic effects.” Of course, those are very high doses. However, “there are also long-term implications of using diphenhydramine at regular, appropriate doses as well.”
The “Benadryl Challenge” requires individuals to take excess amounts of the medication and attempt to stay awake while fighting the drowiness, which is said to cause people to feel high, while recording themselves. Something 15-year-old Oklahoma native Leah Presson partook in, which left her in an ICU with “no brain activity.” Overdosing on Benadryl can cause severe side effects such as seizures, which happened to Leah, and cardiac arrest.
Left Brain Dead
Her father, Richard Presson, sat with “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” to talk about Leah’s condition, revealing she “wanted to help others — and desired fame.” He went on to say that his daughter “wanted to be TikTok famous” and how “It hurts to see that my daughter is now laying lifeless because of some challenge that couldn’t be stopped.” Presson also told “Elizabeth Vargas Report” that his daughter was a “giver” her entire life. Said she “wanted to save lives and stuff like that.” Therefore, her parents are planning to donate her organs. In doing so, Leah would save up to 90 people.
Warning About Social Media Trends
When Leah and the three Connecticut children participated in the social media challenge, they most likely thought their video would go viral. Unfortunately, the “Benadryl Challenge” took their lives from them and altered the lives of their loved ones.
While Presson is in pain over his daughter’s condition, he wants to make sure other parents are warned about the Benadryl Challenge as well as any other social media trend that their child may be or feel pressured to partake in.
Anybody else that has children, I just highly advise them to watch out, you know, for new trending challenges and, you know, look for signs of it. Look them up.
One expert stated there are psychological factors to keep in mind with this. In addition to peer pressure, there are mental health-related issues like “depression, anxiety, or ADHD-related [issues] where it’s maybe a little more sensation-seeking,” said Dr. Chandler Hicks, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at OU Health.
Sources:
KOCO News5: Expert warns parents as dangerous ‘Benadryl Challenge’ reaches Oklahoma.
NewsNation: Benadryl Challenge: Teen left brain dead from viral TikTok trend
CT Mirror: 3 CT children die of apparent overdose as ‘Benadryl challenge’ spreads online
Image by Waffleiron692 Courtesy of Wikimedia – Creative Commons
