The real cost of masking at work (and gentler alternatives)
Masking is the process of suppressing or hiding neurodivergent traits (stims, communication differences, sensory responses, social processing styles) in order to appear neurotypical in a workplace context. It is also called "camouflaging", and it is extraordinarily common.
Research published in the journal Autism (Hull et al., 2017) found that masking is near-universal in autistic adults, particularly in work and social settings. It is also common in adults with ADHD, dyslexia and other neurodivergent conditions. And it comes at a cost that compounds over time.
This article is not going to tell you to stop masking tomorrow. For many people, some level of masking is a pragmatic reality in the current job market. What it will do is be honest about what masking costs, help you identify where the greatest drain is, and offer smaller adjustments that reduce that cost without requiring you to be entirely unmasked in an environment that may not be safe for that.
Key Facts
- Masking refers to deliberately suppressing or hiding neurodivergent traits to appear neurotypical
- Research links chronic masking to significantly higher rates of burnout, anxiety and depression in autistic adults
- The energy cost of masking is real and cumulative: it draws from the same cognitive resource pool as actual work
- Reducing masking requires a degree of safety, either a genuinely inclusive environment or a trusted relationship with a manager
- The Equality Act 2010 protects you from being penalised for communication differences that are part of your disability
What masking actually involves
Masking is not a single behaviour: it is a cluster of effortful adjustments that happen simultaneously.
Common masking behaviours in the workplace:
- Suppressing stimming (hand movements, rocking, fidgeting) that would help regulate your nervous system
- Forcing or maintaining eye contact that does not come naturally
- Modulating your tone and expression to match expected emotional norms
- Scripting conversations in advance so you have something to say
- Monitoring your own speech in real time for content, tone and pacing
- Suppressing strong reactions to sensory inputs: noise, light, smell, temperature
- Performing engagement in meetings through expressions and body language that signal attention
- Filtering direct or literal communication to make it sound more "diplomatic"
Each of these takes active cognitive effort. Doing several of them simultaneously, for eight or more hours, is exhausting in a way that is hard to explain to someone who does not do it.
What chronic masking does over time
The cumulative effect of sustained masking is well-documented in research and widely reported in autistic and ADHD communities.
Burnout. Autistic burnout (which is distinct from ordinary work burnout) is directly linked to sustained masking and social camouflaging. It involves a loss of skills and abilities that were previously present, not just tiredness. People describe losing the ability to speak, to care for themselves, or to process information that they could handle before. It is serious, it takes a long time to recover from, and masking is one of the primary drivers.
Loss of self-knowledge. When you spend years presenting a version of yourself that is not quite who you are, it becomes harder over time to know what you actually want, need or feel. Many people describe a gradual erosion of their own sense of identity from years of sustained camouflaging.
Delayed diagnosis. Masking is one of the main reasons autistic women, people of colour, and non-binary people are diagnosed significantly later than autistic white men: the effective camouflaging means assessors and GPs do not see what they expect to see. This delays access to support that could have been available years earlier.
Mental health. Research consistently shows higher rates of anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation in autistic people who mask heavily. The masking itself, not autism, appears to be the significant driver.
For more on what happens when masking costs exceed your capacity, see why burnout hits neurodivergent people harder.
Where masking costs the most
Not all masking is equally draining. Some adjustments are relatively low effort. Others are extremely costly. It is worth identifying which parts of your working day draw the most energy, because those are the most valuable places to reduce the load.
High-cost masking situations for many autistic and neurodivergent people:
- Back-to-back meetings with no decompression time between them
- Open-plan offices with high sensory load (noise, movement, bright lighting)
- Networking events and social situations with no agenda or structure
- Working under sustained observation or performance scrutiny
- Communicating with people whose social style is very indirect or emotionally charged
- Suppressing sensory responses (to smells, sound, touch) all day with no break
Lower-cost masking situations for many people:
- One-to-one meetings with a trusted colleague
- Written communication (email, Slack), where you have processing time
- Structured meetings with a clear agenda
- Working remotely or alone
Mapping your week against these categories can help you see where you are spending the most energy and whether any of it can be rearranged.
Gentler alternatives: reducing the cost without full unmasking
Fully unmasking in a workplace that is not safe for it is not practical advice. But there is a spectrum between "fully masked at all times" and "entirely unmasked", and most people can move towards less masking in specific, lower-risk situations.
Stim tools. Fidget rings, under-desk pedal boards, stress balls, or clicking a pen are all low-visibility ways to stim that are broadly socially acceptable. They reduce the effort of suppressing the impulse entirely.
Earplugs or headphones. Noise-cancelling headphones are now common enough in most workplaces that wearing them signals "I'm in focus mode" rather than anything else. Using them to reduce sensory load is a reasonable adjustment that most employers will agree to without any formal process.
Written communication defaults. If spoken communication requires more masking effort than written, defaulting to email or messages for complex discussions where possible reduces the sustained performance load.
Shorter eye contact with a purpose. Rather than forcing sustained eye contact (which is exhausting and not actually required for effective communication), looking towards someone's face with natural breaks is both easier and, for most people, not perceptible as different.
Recovery blocks. Building 15-minute breaks after high-masking events (meetings, calls, social interactions) gives you time to decompress before the next demand. This is not laziness. It is managing a resource that has a real capacity limit.
Selective partial disclosure. You do not have to disclose everything to reduce masking. Telling one trusted colleague "I find back-to-back meetings very draining, can we leave a gap?" is a small piece of disclosure that creates a small piece of accommodation without requiring a formal process.
When the environment is genuinely not safe for less masking
Some workplaces and managers are not safe to be more openly neurodivergent in. The risk is real (unconscious bias, informal penalisation, not being put forward for opportunities. If that is your situation, the answer is not to mask harder indefinitely: it is to assess whether the environment is worth the cost, and whether any change) a different manager, a different team, a different employer: is viable.
If you are job searching, Neuro Hire Network connects you with employers who have specifically committed to neurodivergent-inclusive working, not as a policy on paper, but as a real practice. That is the difference between a workplace where masking is survival, and one where it becomes optional.
For a broader guide to autism in UK workplaces, including your legal rights and adjustment options, see autism and work: a complete UK guide.
