Lately, the famous mobile app TikTok included videos tempting users to take huge doses of over-the-counter medicine, Benadryl, also known technically as diphenhydramine, which resulted in having hallucinations or a changed mental condition.
People enjoy TikTok for its charming cat videos and celebrities singing and dancing, but the app’s negative side involves the aspects like the Benadryl Challenge.
This recent challenge is targeted at teenagers wanting to get high, but it is evidently extremely risky and can be fatal.
What is Benadryl Challenge?
The Benadryl Challenge invites people to feel high by taking a dozen or so Benadryl tablets.
If we take too much diphenhydramine, the active component in Benadryl that makes us sleepy and we may have a feeling of getting high.
However, consuming too much Benadryl might be quite harmful.
Although some teenagers believe that taking a handful of Benadryl tablets would only give them pleasure and make them drowsy, it can have serious adverse effects such as seizures and extremely fatal as death.
It’s unknown where this challenge started, but it was reported as the reason for 3 youths from Texas, USA, being hospitalized in May.
According to a source, one of the teenagers was rushed into hospital with a heartbeat rate of 199, which is substantially higher than a regular heartbeat.
It was the consequence of taking the Benadryl challenge.
Benadryl Challenge Viral Videos Meaning
In August, a 15-year girl residing in Oklahoma was found dead, while following the Benadryl Challenge.
The viral videos of this challenge can hardly be found on the Tiktok.
After the serious issues that were caused due to the Benadryl Challenge, TikTok has restricted all the videos that follow the trend of this challenge.
Other than Tiktok, Youtube has also featured several videos and news regarding the Benadryl Challenge.
The news covered on this issue as well as the experience of the victims and the families due to this challenge can easily be found on the internet.
Benadryl Challenge Meaning on Urban Dictionary
The urban dictionary describes the Benadryl challenge as “The act of taking a normal or slighter higher than normal dose of Benadryl and attempting to self-eroticism. The usual rules include a 10-minute buffer to allow the pills to start working.”
The people in this challenge overdose themselves with Benadryl and wait for around 5-10 minutes for the pill to show the symptoms.
After being highly sedated with the Benadryl, they start self-pleasing and if they fall asleep before getting an ecstasy, they fail the challenge.
Other challenges similar to the Benadryl Challenge
These days, social media platforms including TikTok has so many challenges that people, especially youths like to follow.
Meanwhile, most of these challenges are supposed to be fun and a part of the entertainment.
These light-hearted and safe challenges include, ‘The salvage challenge‘, ‘The celeb-lookalike challenge‘, ‘The plank challenge‘, and several others.
These challenges are more fun-oriented and can be done with families.
But some of these challenges can end up being extremely dangerous to health and even to life. A similar risky kind of challenge that was introduced through TikTok was ‘The holocaust challenge’.
In this challenge, people would dress up like the holocaust survivors and imitated them to be just like them. This challenge offended many people as the mockery of the Jewish people who died or survived the harsh reality of Nazi concentration camps.
‘The nutmeg challenge‘ was another challenge that was more identical to the Benadryl Challenge.
People would record their video after drinking a mixture of two to four teaspoons of nutmeg with milk or water and as a result, intoxication was caused due to high doses of the spice.