Masking
Masking is the process of suppressing, disguising, or compensating for ADHD traits and symptoms in order to fit social expectations. A person learns that their natural behaviors — interrupting, moving, getting distracted, forgetting — are unacceptable, and develops strategies to hide them.
Masking comes at a high cost: it consumes intense cognitive and emotional energy, often leads to burnout after social situations, and can delay diagnosis because the outward behavior looks 'normal.' Women with ADHD mask more often and more intensely, contributing to female underdiagnosis.
Masking can be adaptive (strategies that genuinely help a person function better) or harmful (hiding difficulties to the point of not seeking needed help). The goal of treatment isn't to eliminate every adaptation, but to reduce the cost of excessive masking.
💡 Practical example
A teacher with ADHD who looks completely organized to her students — but spends hours the night before preparing and reorganizing so everything appears to flow naturally — is masking intensely.
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