Camouflaging Strategies and Mental Health in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Camouflaging in autism spectrum disorder encompasses a range of conscious and unconscious tactics by which autistic individuals adapt their social presentation to align with non-autistic norms. Techniques such as masking—suppressing characteristic behaviours—and compensation—employing learned scripts or routines—are deployed to navigate social interactions, gain acceptance and avoid stigma. While these strategies may facilitate short-term social inclusion and reduce overt autistic traits, accumulating evidence indicates a complex relationship with mental health. Sustained camouflaging can lead to exhaustion, heightened anxiety, depressive symptoms and identity confusion, often compounded by delayed diagnosis and inadequate support. The impact of camouflaging varies across developmental stages and cultural contexts, with gender differences also shaping how and why individuals camouflage. An emerging body of work emphasises the need to balance recognition of camouflaging as an adaptive response with proactive measures to foster environments in which autistic people can express authentic behaviours without fear of rejection.

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Camouflaging Strategies and Mental Health in Autism Spectrum Disorder publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in camouflaging strategies and mental health in autism spectrum disorder across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Camouflaging: The use of deliberate or automatic strategies to mask or compensate for autistic traits in social interactions.

Masking: The suppression or concealment of characteristic autistic behaviours to appear neurotypical.

Compensation: The adoption of learned scripts, routines or behavioural strategies to manage social demands despite underlying challenges.

Safety behaviours: Actions aimed at reducing perceived social threat, often overlapping with masking tactics in social anxiety contexts.

References

1. Psychosocial factors associated with camouflaging in autistic people and its relationship with mental health and well-being: A mixed methods systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review (2023).
2. The association between social camouflage and mental health among autistic people in Japan and the UK: a cross-cultural study. Molecular Autism (2024).
3. Understanding the relationship between social camouflaging in autism and safety behaviours in social anxiety in autistic and non‐autistic adolescents. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (2023).