Published on 12, July, 2020
Does anyone else feel that they can pretend like they're normal for a short amount of time (and actually cope quite well like a regular person in the outside world) but after a couple of weeks the effort is too much and you crash and burn out and cant "be normal" anymore?
Changing how you would normally act to fit better into neurotypical society is called masking (this could be subconscious or you could do it intentionally). It takes a lot of energy to mask because you are having to focus on so many things at once (like body language, the conversation, the other person, etc) and that can be harder too if you are monotropic. If you mask too long it could lead to exhaustion and even burnout.
www.autism.org.uk/.../autistic-masking
I felt the effects of masking, today.
Now, I feel ready to explode.
Yeah thats why I try not to mask too often. I used to mask all the time but once I got home I would have terrible meltdowns so now I mostly just emotionally detach in public and try to lay low (which probably isnt the healthiest either but at least im not screaming for hours anymore)
I hate having to mask also.I just wish the Banks would hand over the money with no fuss....It's a hard life huh ?