“I hear a lot of people talking about ‘masking’, either around neurodiverse conditions such as Autism, or around mental health issues such a depression. What actually is masking?”
This is such a great question, seriously thanks for asking it. Masking is something a lot people do. Masking for Autistic people is when they learn and perform certain behaviours and suppress other behaviours to fit in with people around them. They will drop these behaviours when they are in ‘comfortable’ environments or when fatigue kicks in.
Masking in mental health is similar. it is the behaviours, or coping mechanisms, people use to conceal their thoughts, feelings or difficulties. Reasons can include fear of being stigmatised, judged or rejected. As a depression sufferer I frequently masked my depression to the extent that people have scoffed at me when I talk about my depression. ‘You’re too cheerful how can you have depression?’ My masking was for two main reasons. Firstly, I felt I needed to hold it together so I could do my job and be a mother and wide. Secondly, I didn’t want to talk about it as I felt I would start crying and not stop.
For whatever reason, masking is not a health coping strategy and certainly not long term. Also, the effort of masking causes a massive amount of fatigue. I would come home from work and just collapse in bed. If you think you are masking, for whatever reason, please reach out and seek help.
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