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The Cost of Camouflaging at Work (and How to Reduce It)

Updated: Aug 29


Camouflaging—masking differences to meet expectations—keeps many neurodivergent professionals afloat. It also drains energy, impairs learning, and quietly erodes mental health. Organisations can’t eliminate the impulse to fit in, but they can make it unnecessary to survive the day.


What camouflaging is (and isn’t)

Camouflaging involves strategies to hide or compensate for traits (e.g., scripting conversations, suppressing stimming, over-preparing to avoid memory lapses). It’s often adaptive in short bursts and harmful as a default. Systematic reviews link high camouflaging to anxiety, depression, and burnout among autistic adults; related compensation is reported in ADHD and dyslexia communities too. Crucially, camouflaging is not dishonesty—it’s labour spent meeting narrow norms.


Why workplaces amplify it

Three forces push masking: ambiguous expectations, sensory overload, and performance rituals that reward style over substance. Open offices with unpredictable noise, rapid-fire status meetings, and “fast-think” problem-solving sessions create chronic load. When help requires disclosure and proof, people keep coping silently. The result is paradoxical: high apparent competence paired with exhaustion and attrition.


What actually helps

First, change the conditions, not the people. Make information predictable (clear agendas, materials in advance, written decisions). Make participation flexible (voice, chat, shared docs, pre-submitted notes). Make the environment adjustable (quiet zones, lighting options, remote-first days). These are not special favours; they are universal design choices that reduce the need to mask.


Second, change the managerial scripts. Replace “speak up more in meetings” with “let’s agree how you want to contribute; I’ll bring your notes into the room.” Replace “be more resilient” with “what part of the workflow creates avoidable load, and how do we remove it?” ACAS and EHRC guidance both support needs-led adjustments without forcing diagnosis; that permission structure matters.


Third, measure the hidden cost. In stay interviews and 1:1s, ask about “work friction” and “energy after a typical day,” not just satisfaction. Track sick days, mid-year exits, and comments about environment or meetings. You’re looking for early signals that masking, not mastery, is doing the work.


Soldiers marching in camouflage uniforms on a street.

Culture is what happens on Tuesdays

The point isn’t to ban camouflaging—many people will still choose it in specific contexts—but to ensure it isn’t required to be seen as professional. When leaders model different styles (written briefings, cameras-off days, reflective decision-making), permission spreads. Over time, the visible behaviours shift: more questions asked early, more drafts shared, fewer “performances,” more sustainable output.



References (APA-7)

 
 
 

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