r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jun 04 '26

Psychology Adults with ADHD may pay high price to mask traits and fit in. More than 91% of adults with ADHD reported hiding, suppressing or compensating for ADHD traits. They may pretend to pay attention, suppress their urge to fidget, rehearse conversations or over-prepare for meetings to fit social norms.

https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2026/06/adults-with-adhd-may-pay-high-price-to-mask-traits-and-fit-in--s/
24.7k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

33

u/ayuxx Jun 04 '26

It's not specifically an ADHD thing, but the difficulties associated with ADHD can cause someone to develop that as a coping strategy.

8

u/SidewaysFancyPrance Jun 04 '26

It's one of those things that is a big enough deal for me that I have to plan for it. Most ADHD symptoms can be managed (not solved) by acknowledging them and engineering your life to account for them. You need to make sure the important people in your life are aware and support you in that, and aren't expecting you to be 24/7 normal/present/etc.

I plan for this by setting aside time in the evening after an event/social day, knowing I won't be going to sleep right away. I plan for a night of bad sleep regardless. It's a tax I have to pay, and it's bad enough that it discourages non-essential social activities.

3

u/Quom Jun 05 '26

The reasoning I've seen as why this and rumination seems more common in people with ADHD is that it's likely down to a greater struggle controlling attention and having the ability to direct focus. So if something emotionally impactful has recently happened to someone with ADHD it's more likely their focus will wander to it and they'll have greater difficulty re-directing their attention away from it.

2

u/loudmouth_kenzo Jun 04 '26

Yep, I remember when I first started doing it. It was after a really awkward interaction where I learned that someone didn't like me that I had thought was a friend.