Why Do Autistic People Mask?

Masking and autism go hand in hand, and it’s incredibly common; this is a survivalistic strategy to fit in, period. It’s a method to try and reduce the stress that being neurodivergent in a neurotypical world can bring, and autistic people mask to avoid bullying, discrimination, or social rejection, and it can also help with things like securing employment and navigating a world that’s built around neurotypical norms, period. Over time, this can become a completely unconscious reflex, something you’re not even actively choosing anymore; it just happens.

Women are particularly good at masking, and part of that comes down to being socially attuned, nurturing, and having a tendency to people-please, and this shows up in the research too: women tend to receive an autism diagnosis later in life than men despite having similar levels of autistic traits, and camouflaging is thought to be part of why. There’s a hidden cost to all of this though: masking is exhausting; it drains your mental energy and your physical energy in equal measure, and this can eventually lead to burnout and a whole host of other negative consequences on top of that. And this is also part of why so many people don’t get diagnosed as autistic in the first place, because they’ve become so good at masking, so good at pretending to be neurotypical, that it simply doesn’t show up to the people assessing them. Masking can be both a completely conscious choice in the moment and something entirely subconscious, and often it’s a mix of both at once.

If any of this resonates and you’re wondering whether you might be masking without even realising it, that’s exactly the kind of thing we can explore together. I also offer a free (no obligation) 20-minute consultation.