ADHD ‘Masking’ May Help People Blend In But Harms Mental Health

June 8, 2026
Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

It can be incredibly difficult for adults with ADHD to fit in socially.

But trying to hide the telltale signs of ADHD could cost their mental health and well-being, a study says.

Adults with ADHD might better fit in if they pretend to pay attention, suppress their urge to fidget, rehearse conversations or over-prepare for meetings, researchers said.

But these “masking” mechanisms can lead to exhaustion, anxiety and depression, and might even worsen challenges associated with ADHD, researchers reported recently in the journal Research in Neurodiversity.

“Camouflaging or masking strategies may help you get your foot in the door socially, in relationships or at work, but they often leave people feeling exhausted, disconnected from their true selves and less close or connected to others,” said lead researcher Marisa Mylett, a doctoral student at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.

“Many participants reported experiencing an internal trade-off between safety and authentic expression that may reflect the stigma and negative social responses and feedback folks with ADHD often receive since childhood,” she said in a news release.

For the new study, researchers surveyed 202 adults with ADHD, of whom more than 91% said they camouflaged their ADHD traits to some extent to fit in with others.

“The finding that many adults with ADHD feel they have to camouflage as a survival strategy suggests that there's a lot of work to be done in society to reduce stigma and shift norms towards accepting diverse neurotypes,” Mylett said.

Results showed that these masking mechanisms require a great deal of brain power, impairing people’s attention, memory and focus – the very aspects already affected by ADHD.

As a result, camouflaging tactics often lead to exhaustion, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. Some said they felt irritable or anxious and needed days to recover after periods of intense masking.

Many people also reported feelings of inauthenticity, impostor syndrome and uncertainty about their identity.

While it might be healthier for ADHD adults to be their authentic selves, researchers said these camouflaging efforts are an ingrained response to earlier experiences and societal norms. As a result, learning to unmask might take significant time and effort.

“It’s not that adults with ADHD have a distorted way of seeing the world. They’re responding to real social expectations and pressures and using masking to cope,” said senior researcher Grace Iarocci, a professor of psychology at Simon Fraser University.

“We need to understand how difficult their day-to-day life is, and how much cognitive effort or mental energy they're putting into everyday living so we can help them find healthy ways to manage,” Iarocci said in the release.

More information

The Attention Deficit Disorder Association has more on ADHD masking.

SOURCE: Simon Fraser University, news release, June 3, 2026

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD)