Do you feel you are forced to wear your mask?

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Danusaurus
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27 Mar 2022, 2:27 am

Do you ever feel you must wear your mask 24/7? And if so does it wear you down ? Do you feel like you never get a day off? In fact I hate wearing my mask so much lately that I expect my partner to actually initiate saying let’s get sober or let’s do something that is as good for you as it is for us.. my partner dislikes me and I know it yet she makes me wanna not change, she walked into our relationship knowing every minute detail about me and has no idea how upset I am over things.. we’ll she does, point is I’m a creative fun person and she has no idea how to nurture it.. why do I live Sara



naturalplastic
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27 Mar 2022, 2:55 am

By "mask" do you mean the literal mask (the social distancing anti covid mask) that everyone on the planet has been wearing in public now?

Or do you mean a figurative mask (like pretending to be NT when you're AS)?



magz
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27 Mar 2022, 3:54 am

Looks like the OP means figurative mask - at least this would fit the rest of the post.

Have I got it right that your partner does not like you?


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CockneyRebel
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27 Mar 2022, 10:04 am

I feel that I have to put on my acting face around my mum. I have to hide my preference for Germany over Britain and I can't cringe when my parents misgender me.


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27 Mar 2022, 10:11 am

Danusaurus wrote:
Do you ever feel you must wear your mask 24/7?
Not at all!

I have had asthma since I was a child (both of my parents were smokers). Wearing a mask has been beneficial. I have needed my rescue inhaler only once this year, when I have gone through two or three inhalers before covid.

Because of this alone, I want to wear a mask outside my house.

It it too bad that some people have politicized mask-wearing — treating an act of common sense like a crime of immorality.

EDIT:

But if the OP means figurative masking — putting on an act — that is just part of life, although I had to take acting lessons to learn how to do it.



babybird
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27 Mar 2022, 11:41 am

I don't feel forced to mask. I know that I probably do mask but it's just something that happens automatically. I don't think that I mask any more than the average person whether they be aspie, autistic or NT.


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27 Mar 2022, 12:59 pm

magz wrote:
Looks like the OP means figurative mask - at least this would fit the rest of the post.


ooooh! Thanks to the first few posters. I read this all wrong.



AnonymousAnonymous
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27 Mar 2022, 1:18 pm

Not at all.

In fact, I don't see the point to "mask up."


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27 Mar 2022, 2:26 pm

babybird wrote:
I don't feel forced to mask. I know that I probably do mask but it's just something that happens automatically. I don't think that I mask any more than the average person whether they be aspie, autistic or NT.


Same here. Everybody masks to some extent. I just feel I have to mask more than most when going out in public places because I feel that strangers are less forgiving than your friends and family and even colleagues. You can't be yourself at all in public places, you've somewhat got to become an emotionless robot clone of everybody else, which can be difficult when you have ADHD and social anxiety. At least you can express yourself more when around people you know or you're close to.


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27 Mar 2022, 11:45 pm

It's advisable to do as little masking as possible, either by a) spending time with people tolerant enough of your autistic behaviour, or b) limiting your social interactions. Sometimes a bit of time alone can do wonders when others aren't as understanding as one would wish.

My problem is not masking, but that I can't have any "me" time. Week in and week out I'm either at work or with my family. Many autistic people dream of a partner, job, family etc. but everytime you climb one step up on that ladder a big chunk of that precious "me" time will be subtracted from your daily life.



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28 Mar 2022, 5:30 am

If you have to hide yourself in order to please somebody else 24/7 that is not a healthy relationship. I was married the first time to somebody who was never happy with anything about me and who wanted me to change all the time. I heard more "you should have" "you ought to know" "what is the matter with you" and "you always" and "you never" comments and tried to change change change to please him. Turns out he was the wrong partner for me. He blamed me for everything and I was always wrong, bad, etc. I asked him to go to couples counseling with me to work it out and he refused, saying I was the problem. I went to counseling myself and found out that it was an unhealthy relationship. I learned how to be self assertive in healthy communication and how to make healthy choices. I am no longer with that partner whose unhealthy demands drove me to depression and suicidal behavior. If you feel like you are always the wrong one and always the bad one, blamed for everything, chances are that is not a healthy relationship either. Sending best wishes , hope you can work it out or find a way to have peace.


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28 Mar 2022, 3:46 pm

I've learned to just try to control any excessively autistic tendencies. Doesn't always work but it takes the edge off others' suspicions, I think. When I served in the military I was an avionics mechanic and my unusual focus and attention to detail made me a great worker, although rather odd and quirky. As a sergeant I was awful, no leadership ability at all. I was able to retire but the last half was just miserable. Looking back, had I known I was probably autistic I would have never have said anything about it. That's grounds for a medical discharge at best and no pension. Now I work as a data analyst and I'm pretty well-suited to that job. I don't related to my younger NT coworkers but I do get results. Again, there are some jobs where a positive diagnosis can cost you that job, and this job pays very well.
Now I keep no friends and don't get out much but I've learned to live this lifestyle. Maybe it's just apathy, I dunno. Yeah, holding up that mask is tiring but after a while, at least for me, it seems to have glued itself on. I'm still old AS me under the mask but the mask seems to have become part of me. At this point in my life, I don't care so much anymore.



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29 Mar 2022, 1:33 pm

I've noticed that the less I can successfully mask, the more I am expected by others to do so. I can't really mask that well now, and people seem to be less patient with me and don't even try to hide the fact that they find me weird. When I could mask better people tolerated my "eccentricities" a lot more and were more reserved about treating me differently, even when they obviously noticed that something was "off" about me.