Dark Patterns & ADHD: The Internet Is Playing You… Unless You Play It Back

Dark patterns are just traps wrapped in pretty UI. They’re sprinkled with dopamine dust and shipped straight to your impulsive little prefrontal cortex. Everyone is vulnerable to this mess.

But if you’ve got ADHD?

Congratulations. You’re basically walking around with a neon sign that says, “Please manipulate me.”

I’m right there with you. My brain works the same way. But I’m tired of seeing good folks get played by bad code.

Here’s the rundown of the usual suspects, why they hit us harder, and how to fight back like someone who’s finally sick of being digitally mugged.

Fake Urgency & Scarcity — The Digital Used Car Salesman

Countdowns?

“Only 2 left at this price!”

“47 people are looking at this right now!”

It’s all theater. Cheap drama. Bad acting.

And yet, your ADHD brain eats it up like a buffet of anxiety.

Why You’re a Target: You crave resolution. You want the answer now. Fake scarcity hijacks your logic board and puts impulsivity in the driver’s seat.

How to Fight Back:

• Refresh the page. If that countdown timer resets, congrats, you beat the bullshit.

• The 24-Hour Rule. Add it to the cart. Close the tab. Go touch grass. If you still remember it tomorrow, buy it. Spoiler: you probably won’t remember.

Forced Continuity — The “Roach Motel”

Free trial? Sure, come on in. Just hand over the credit card.

Want to cancel? suddenly you need a lawyer and Google Maps to find the exit button. They hide that thing like it’s a nuclear launch code.

Why You’re a Target: Executive dysfunction meets memory gaps. “I’ll cancel later” turns into three years of paying for a streaming service you haven’t watched since Game of Thrones ended.

How to Fight Back:

• Burner cards. Use a virtual card (like Privacy.com) with a $1 limit. When the renewal hits, let the charge fail.

• Cancel immediately. Sign up for the trial, then cancel five seconds later. You usually get to keep the access, but you strip them of the power to bill you.

Sneaky Add-Ons — The “Oops, You Bought It”

Sites love pre-checking boxes for nonsense you didn’t ask for. Insurance. Warranties. Newsletters.

They bury it in visual clutter because they know you skim text like you’re speed-running a video game.

Why You’re a Target: You see the shiny “Checkout” button and you click it. The rest of the page could be on fire and you wouldn’t notice.

How to Fight Back:

• Watch the math. If the total looks weird, scroll back up. Hunt for the parasite checkbox.

• Reader View. Hit that little button in your browser address bar. It strips the page down to text. Watch the scams reveal themselves.

Confirmshaming — Emotional Blackmail

You click “No thanks,” and the button says: “No, I enjoy being poor.” or “No, I don’t care about the planet.”

Relax. I just don’t want your emails, bro,

Why You’re a Target: RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria). Even a tiny, automated jab feels like someone poked your soul with a sharp stick.

How to Fight Back:

• Call it out. Say it out loud: “Nice try, robot.” Once you name the manipulation, the spell breaks.

• Find the sad gray text. The decline link is always tiny, ashamed, and hiding in a corner. Click it with pride.

Infinite Scroll — The Attention Black Hole

Feeds that never end. Videos that autoplay like they’re possessed.

There are no stopping cues. Stopping means thinking. Thinking means leaving. And if you leave, they can’t sell ads against your eyeballs.

Why You’re a Target: Hyperfocus turns “five more minutes” into “why is the sun coming up?” It’s a trance state. By the way, this is me when I play the Sims 3.

How to Fight Back:

• Go grayscale. Turn your phone screen to black and white. Kill the color, kill the dopamine. It looks boring as hell, which is the point.

• Use biology. Drink water. Your bladder will eventually drag you back to reality in a way your willpower never will.

Here’s The Play

Dark patterns aren’t clever. They’re cheap parlor tricks designed to exploit your brain chemistry, your impulsivity, your hyperfocus, your chaos.

But once you see the wires? The puppet show looks ridiculous.

Stop falling for the traps. Stop bleeding money. Stop getting guilt-tripped by pop-ups with inferiority complexes.

Become dangerous. Become the kind of user they can’t fool anymore.