Compulsory disclaimer before I begin. I am not a mental health professional but I'm autistic and it's my special interest. I have read dozens of psychology books, watched interviews, and have thousands of hours of research into this stuff. I love it and it's changed my life. HOWEVER.. that doesn't mean I'm a pro, and these are topics that require a pro past a certain surface level. If that's on the table, I can't recommend it enough. If you get a therapist and don't click with them in the first hour or so, I recommend moving on to another one. It's super common in that world and not seen as offensive. If you cannot or are not ready, I don't mind chatting with you a bit and I'll tell you the beginning.

So you can answer a couple questions for this. Don't feel obligated to share your answers with me, but you're welcome to if you feel like you want to.

Question 1: Do you know you're masking?

• Yes: If you do, that is voluntary masking and you can "catch" it and try to correct. Practice makes perfect. A good example of this would be if the Boss is in town and you decide to dress a little nicer and use the big business words when you talk to them. It's a deliberate act and it can have a purpose.

• No: If you feel drained after dealing with people and you know you're not really "one of them" even though on the surface level that would be hard to prove, that would be subconscious masking. There are many kinds but the most common category would be trauma-based. A trauma mask can be visualized like this (this is fiction, domestic abuse trigger warning): [a wife comes home to her husband already drunk and about to get physical with the kids. She's calm in the moment, handles the husband and pacifies him. Gets him in the recliner, gets him fed and with his remote and another beer (against her wishes), and he eventually passes out in the chair. Everyone is safe. That night when all the kids are in bed, she breaks down shaking from the stress of the whole ordeal.] << That would be a description of a trauma mask. Trauma masks kick in automatically and you may not even know it's happening in the moment but afterwards you have anxiety, feel sick, or just plain exhausted.

Question 2: Are you autistic (also sometimes wrongly called Asperger’s Syndrome)?

• No: Disregard. Just for giggles, read the "yes" as well. Autism is massively under-diagnosed.

• Yes: So if you're autistic (I very briefly looked through your posts. You seem to program and have a strong sense of justice... I'm just saying I would look into it.) If you want to know more let me know, I can show you some tests that can get you a pretty good idea. Anyway, if you're autistic, the whole thing about trauma masking could apply to your entire existence and you may not even know it. It sounds insane but it's true and a super common shared experience among especially late-diagnosed autistics, like if you're an adult and don't know you're autistic yet.

Conclusion:

• If you answered "yes/no" or "yes/yes", you have already begun your progress by being curious! Don't forget you can have voluntary and subconscious masking at the same time so as you figure out your voluntary stuff, some subconscious stuff may still be there.

• If you answered "no/no" or "no/yes" I would recommend a book by Devon Price, PhD called Unmasking Autism. Even if you're not autistic or in some other way neurodivergent the tools to find one's authentic self are the same (both are trauma masks, remember?). The book can be a little heavy but it's well worth it. It has a unique way to call out stuff that we'd never even think to complain about but is super valid.

I know this was a long ass reply. I'm happy to write more. If you have questions or want those autism questionnaires, just let me know. I'm not affiliate or anything, and they're free and anonymous as far as I'm aware.