Some people mask unknowingly, while others are aware of it. This ability to adapt socially is usually learned from childhood, which can complicate or delay proper diagnosis. Research also suggests that women with ADHD are less likely to be diagnosed than men due to these compensatory mechanisms and masking behaviors.
ADHD masking is a way of hiding symptoms through learned behaviors that can be healthy or unhealthy. Many people with ADHD break social rules through their behaviors and may face shame and ridicule. As a result, they develop coping strategies to hide parts of themselves.
A person with ADHD may feel the need to mask their symptoms around others to feel safe and fit in. Someone who continuously masks and excessively worries about their behaviors can become exhausting and have a negative effect on them. An individual with ADHD should not feel the need to hide parts of themselves.
Masking may involve suppressing certain behaviours we find soothing but that others think are 'weird', such as stimming or intense interests. It can also mean mimicking the behaviour of those around us, such as copying non-verbal behaviours, and developing complex social scripts to get by in social situations.
One type of ADHD masking — known as mirroring — involves intentionally or unintentionally mimicking the speech, movements, or behaviors of someone else. While ADHD mirroring and body doubling may seem similar at first glance, you can work alongside a body double without imitating them in any way.
Put simply; masking is intentionally shifting your behavior to hide your differences. For example, a woman with ADHD might smile and nod during a conversation even though she tuned out long ago, or she may secretly work late into the night to overcompensate for not staying on task for a deadline.
When people with ADHD are activated, they are often plagued by self-sabotaging, negative internal talk that prevents them from believing they can do things. It can be conscious or unconscious and can keep folks from setting, working towards, and reaching goals. It holds them back from doing what they want to do.
Invisible ADHD symptoms
emotional dysregulation. time blindness, or not being aware of time. racing thoughts. intrusive or self-defeating thoughts.
Some participants also wrote about masking being unconscious, being unaware that they were “masking,” but knowing that they had to hide parts of themselves “I have spent my life masking without knowing I was doing it” (ND- woman, 47).
Neurotypicals misinterpret this as being callous, narcissistic, uncaring, or socially inept. Taken together, the vulnerability of a person with ADHD to the negative feedback of others, and the lack of ability to observe oneself in the moment, make a witch's brew.
Executive functions have other roles which affect how someone thinks. In people with ADHD, these executive dysfunctions impact thinking in numerous ways. People with ADHD don't really think faster than people without it, but it can sometimes seem like they do. People with ADHD do think differently though, in a sense.
At Work or School
Research has found that people with ADHD have more creativity and idea generation than people without the disorder. 3 This can lead to outside-the-box thinking that is so important for innovation. Hyper-focus: Many people with ADHD become hyper-focused on things that interest them.
How can you tell if your child is intellectually gifted, has ADHD, or both? This can be a challenge because the two share some commonalities. Children in both groups often have high energy levels and a low tolerance for boredom. They are frequently curious, creative and may enjoy high-risk activities.
But in the world of ADHD, a body double is someone who sits with a person with ADHD as he tackles tasks that might be difficult to complete alone. Many people with ADHD find it easier to stay focused on housework, homework, bill paying, and other tasks when someone else is around to keep them company.
People with autism, engineers, and those with ADHD tend to say they think in pictures; teachers, in words, and when a word-thinker hears that there are those who think not in words, but pictures, they often are flabbergasted, taken aback, and have a hard time bending their mind around this alien thought form.
The dictionary defines it as 'tending to be different or develop in different directions'. 1. This can be said to be true for people with ADHD. They are recognised for their 'Out of the Box' thinking, their creativity and, at times, their eccentricity. Divergent thinking and ADHD tend to go hand in hand.
Examples of masking can include, but are not limited to: Mimicking the social behaviour of others, including gestures or facial expressions. Deliberately forcing or faking eye contact during conversations. Hiding or underplaying their own intense interests.
Neurodivergent masking is the act of hiding one's traits that are a part of their neurodivergence in order to fit into society. This can be done for a variety of reasons, but it is often a way for neurominorities to avoid discrimination and stigma.