Gone are the days of simply meeting people in the pub or through friends and when Hinge was nothing more than a joint attached to a door.
Instead, we are forced to swipe right endlessly to search for our soulmate.
But an estimated two million Britons live with undiagnosed ADHD, and being unlucky in love online could be a potential sign of the condition, new research suggests.
Experts found that more than a fifth of singles with this mental health condition are more likely to feel overwhelmed by dating apps than people who don’t have ADHD.
According to research, conducted by dating app Hinge, three in four people with ADHD also report feeling misunderstood when using it.
An estimated two million Brits live with undiagnosed ADHD, and being unlucky in love online could be a potential sign of the condition, new research suggests
Meanwhile, a third admitted to having trouble with small talk on dating apps.
Now, a team of PhD researchers and behavioral scientists working on the app want to make it easier for people with ADHD to address these issues.
NHS statistics show that more than 230,000 people in England are taking ADHD medication to combat their inattention and hyperactivity.
Prescription rates rose by a fifth last year, marking the biggest annual increase since modern records began in 2015.
Data suggests it has been largely driven by an increase in the number of women aged 20 to 30, although rates continue to rise in children.
In the research, Hinge questioned 9,000 users with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD about their experiences with online dating.
They found that people with ADHD were 22 percent more likely to feel overwhelmed by dating apps compared to neurotypical people.
Daters with this condition were also 38 percent more likely to report finding it difficult to maintain conversations.
When assessing why they felt overwhelmed, 43 percent confessed that they often forget to respond to matches.
However, parties often assume that their slow response means they are not interested, they said.
One study volunteer, Tarah Clark, an Australian content creator, said: “I would like my partners to understand that when I forget to respond it was not because of a lack of interest, but rather that my brain often becomes overwhelmed or distracted.”
‘When someone sent me a kind reminder, I appreciated it.
‘A follow-up message helped me get the conversation back on track and I was always happy to keep chatting.
“Understanding each other’s challenges made connecting so much easier.”
Nearly a third (31 percent) of daters with ADHD were more likely than neurotypical people to report disliking small talk, the researchers found.
Hinge advised users with ADHD to provide clarity from the beginning on how to be honest with communication and dating styles.
The researchers also suggested moving from a digital conversation to an in-person date after about three days of conversation.
Around half of people aged 18 to 34 in Britain are thought to have used dating apps.
There are more than 1,400 in the United Kingdom alone.
But a recent Forbes survey found that 79 percent of Generation Z describe themselves as experiencing “burnout” thanks to online dating.
In March, NHS England announced it would launch a new task force to examine the worrying rise in adults and children diagnosed with ADHD.
Experts have warned that dishonest private clinics are overdiagnosing the disease and have questioned the widespread prescription of powerful stimulant drugs to treat it.
The booming market is believed to have been fueled by celebrities such as model Katie Price and Love Island star Olivia Attwood speaking out about their ordeal with ADHD and waits of up to ten years for an NHS assessment.
Social media is also full of users telling how the medications helped them calm down, control their restlessness, and increase their concentration.
Fascinating graphs show how prescriptions for ADHD have increased over time, with patient demographics shifting from children to adults, with women in particular now driving the rise.
Earlier this year, a psychologist warned that a rise in awareness of ADHD had distorted society’s understanding of neurodiversity and what constitutes “typical” behavior.
Dr Lisa Williams, director of the Autism Service, which runs 29 clinics in England and Wales, said: “If we are not more careful, diagnoses such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and ADHD will be meaningless, and all Others of us find ourselves having been labeled as such.’
He added: “The more we broaden and blur diagnoses like ASD and ADHD, the more people will ‘fit’ into the category and the less specialized care will be available for people living with a true developmental disability.”
But experts have also argued that ADHD was not officially listed in the UK as a disorder affecting adults until 2008.
Before that, it was simply recognized as a childhood problem that children outgrew.
As a result, rather than being overdiagnosed, some experts say that many adults now being told they have ADHD have spent years ignoring their symptoms.