Young People Are Tripping on Benadryl—and It’s Always a Bad Time

November 17, 2025

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(Wired) – Deliriants like Benadryl can bring on terrifying hallucinations in high doses. Some Gen Z-ers are taking at least a dozen pills at a time—and challenging others to do the same.

When used in high doses, diphenhydramine, an ingredient in Benadryl, functions as a deliriant, a hallucinogenic class of drugs, which appear to be becoming increasingly popular among young people for nonmedical purposes. Unlike psychedelics or other hallucinogens, there’s no real potential for a good trip on a deliriant. According to the people I spoke to, every trip is bad, every trip is brutal, and that’s the point. (Read More)