Camouflaging autistic traits linked to internalizing symptoms anxiety depression
In the autism community we call this &quot;masking&quot; and it is not the least bit surprising to read this. I did not begin to learn I had anxiety or autism until I was 30 years old, and it&#x27;s because the world trained me to hide away those parts of myself.<p>I did not realize I was masking for most of my life -- most do not since it&#x27;s the only way they&#x27;ve ever lived -- but it is enormously taxing to be around people. Everyone seems to be communicating over a different protocol than you in such a natural way. But you have to study it, prepare for it, and then run an emulation layer in realtime, all to appear normal and natural. This leaves less brainpower for other things and leads to mental exhaustion very quickly. I recently heard it described as never being able to speak your mother tongue.<p>If you would like to read more about my experiences I wrote them down in an essay form [1]. I&#x27;d also recommend the Dave&#x27;s Garage YouTube channel, by ex-Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer. [2] He does a great job of pitching autism as less a disorder and more an evolutionarily necessary mutation for the odd person here or there to have.<p>I&#x27;m very glad these studies are being done and I commend them. I also wish there were a bit of focus on adults with autism, who are often left out of the picture.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twos.dev&#x2F;autism.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twos.dev&#x2F;autism.html</a><p>[2]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=fJ9X5DSnVms">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=fJ9X5DSnVms</a>