Published on 12, July, 2020
So, I was wondering if anyone else feels this way?
We are encouraged, these days, to just be ourselves. But if you have done this and always found the real you is rejected how on earth are you meant to live in the world authentically?
Just ignore the negative responses and persist? Or, like most people in the world with a heart, do you then adjust your 'self' to be less divisive/offensive/turbulent, in order to find a way to fit? (Mask)
Just struggling to fit a star shaped personality through a round hole atm, and it's made me very depressed
Since my diagnosis I have learned that nobody wants to know I’m autistic and if I unmask at all a lot of people become very uncomfortable indeed.
It’s something I’m pondering about 2024. Do I continue living as I have to make everyone else comfortable - and thus live with chronic burnout - or do I say sod everyone, this is me, deal with it.
I don’t think I could survive another year of burnout.
Quite the opposite for me, since my diagnosis I've been much more myself and I'm comfortable unmasking to a certain extent. Made friends in the process, have been very popular at work, and I've reconnected with family members.
What are you doing when you unmask? If you're stimming such as rocking or hand flapping then, yes, many people will be a bit alarmed. It's just a balancing act. Do 70% unmasking or whatnot.
Everyone masks to some extent, ASD or otherwise. Most blokes, for example, would want to lounge around in their underpants at work while drinking beer. They don't do that as people would find it bizarre.