What You Are Hiding Could Be Hurting You: Autistic Masking in Relation to Mental Health, Interpersonal Trauma, Authenticity, and Self-Esteem
Evans, Krumrei-Mancuso and Rouse (2023)
Content Warning: Mentions of abusive therapeutic practices
Autistic masking is the way in which some Autistic people hide or camouflage their Autism and Autistic traits. This can include unconscious or conscious attempts to mimic neurotypical behaviour and suppress their own Autistic behaviour. Masking has been linked to anxiety, burnout, depression and exhaustion in Autistic people. This study investigated the relationships between autistic masking and depression, anxiety, gender identity, sexual orientation, interpersonal trauma, self-esteem, authenticity, and autistic community involvement. 342 participants took part. The authors found that higher self-reported masking was associated with higher levels of past trauma, greater anxiety and depression, lower self-esteem, lower authenticity and lower participation in the Autistic community. In their conclusion the authors call into question the teaching of masking in therapies and education programmes for Autistic people.
