Understanding Masking in Autistic Adults: Why It Matters for Mental Health and Neurodiversity-Affirming Care
Masking or camouflaging is something many autistic adults begin doing long before they even realize there’s a name for it. It often starts as an attempt to “fit in,” avoid negative reactions, or meet neuronormative expectations. But masking is far more complex than simply copying behaviours. For autistic individuals, it can become a survival strategy that carries significant emotional, cognitive, and physical costs.
What Is Masking?
Masking refers to hiding or suppressing natural autistic traits to appear more neurotypical. These traits can include stimming, differences in communication, sensory expressions, or unique ways of processing information. Research shows that masking can be directly taught through behaviour-modification interventions such as Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), but it can also develop naturally over time through repeated social reinforcement and punishment.
Camouflaging is often used interchangeably with masking, describing the same process of concealing one’s authentic autistic self to navigate a world that frequently misunderstands neurodivergence.
Why Do Autistic People Mask?
Autistic individuals may mask to avoid bullying, judgment, or misunderstanding, or simply to survive in environments not built for their communication or sensory needs. For many, masking becomes so habitual that it can feel automatic. Yet it typically emerges from external pressure to act “less autistic” rather than from internal choice
The Emotional and Physical Impact of Masking
Masking carries significant emotional and physical consequences. Research by Bradley et al. (2021) has shown strong links between masking and:
• chronic exhaustion
• increased mental health challenges
• suicidality
• difficulties sustaining the mask long-term
• reduced functioning
• the painful feeling of one’s autistic self not being accepted
Some autistic adults describe short-term benefits, such as navigating social interactions or appearing competent at work. However, the long-term cost often far outweighs these temporary advantages.
Many autistic adults also report feeling less pressure to mask after receiving an autism diagnosis or connecting with people who genuinely understand and accept them. Safety and acceptance reduce the need to hide.
Masking and Autistic Burnout
Masking is a major contributor to autistic burnout. Autistic burnout is a chronic state of exhaustion, loss of function, and reduced tolerance to stimuli that can last months or longer. It arises from a long-term mismatch between an autistic person’s needs and the demands placed upon them, combined with insufficient support.
Because masking requires constant monitoring, emotional labour, and self-suppression, it can push autistic adults toward burnout more quickly and more intensely.
Masking and Suicide Risk
Masking has also been linked to increased suicide risk among autistic adults. Autistic individuals are statistically more likely to attempt or die by suicide compared to nonautistic individuals, and research indicates that the emotional strain of prolonged masking may be one contributing factor. The experience of hiding core parts of oneself, often for years, can create deep internal distress and disconnection.
Why Masking Should Never Be a Therapeutic Goal
Historically, some intervention models encouraged autistic people to reduce autistic traits or mimic neurotypical behaviour. Emerging research and autistic self-advocacy highlight how harmful this approach can be. Teaching or encouraging masking increases distress, reinforces shame, and undermines identity.
Neurodiversity-affirming therapy, rejects the idea that autistic traits should be suppressed. Instead, it focuses on:
• supporting authentic autistic communication
• honouring sensory needs
• reducing environmental pressure to perform neurotypicality
• creating spaces where autistic individuals feel safe to unmask
• strengthening self-understanding, self-acceptance, and self-advocacy
This approach promotes long-term well-being and allows autistic adults to thrive without sacrificing their identity.
Final Thoughts
Masking is not a failure. It’s a response to living in a world that often misunderstands or pathologizes neurodivergence. For autistic adults, unlearning masking is not about “being more autistic,” but about reclaiming energy, safety, and authenticity.
As counsellors committed to neurodiversity-affirming care, our role is to create spaces where autistic individuals do not have to hide their natural selves. Support, not suppression, is what promotes long-term well-being.
References
Bradley, L., Shaw, R., Baron-Cohen, S., & Cassidy, S. (2021). Autistic adults' experiences of camouflaging and its perceived impact on mental health. Autism in Adulthood: Challenges and Management, 3(4), 320–329. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2020.0071
Cassidy, S., Bradley, L., Shaw, R., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2018). Risk markers for suicidality in autistic adults. Molecular autism, 9, 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-018-0226-4
Kõlves, K., Fitzgerald, C., Nordentoft, M., Wood, S. J., & Erlangsen, A. (2021). Assessment of suicidal behaviors among individuals with autism spectrum disorder in Denmark. JAMA network open, 4(1), Article e2033565. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.33565
Raymaker, D. M., Teo, A. R., Steckler, N. A., Lentz, B., Scharer, M., Delos Santos, A., Kapp, S. K., Hunter, M., Joyce, A., & Nicolaidis, C. (2020). "Having all of your internal resources exhausted beyond measure and being left with no clean-up crew": Defining autistic burnout. Autism in Adulthood: Challenges and Management, 2(2), 132–143. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2019.0079
Weiss, J. A., & Fardella, M. A. (2018). Victimization and perpetration experiences of adults with autism. Frontiers in psychiatry, 9, 203. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00203
