Faking Laughs is Ruining Your Mental Health (LinkedIn Backlog | March 2025)

As a late-diagnosed #neurodivergent (ND) person who had to learn to unmask as a young professional, let’s chat about how masking might be causing you unnecessary exhaustion.

"But, Kylee, I’m not ND," you say.

 Well, let me let you in on a little secret looks around ND masking isn't all that different from things you do everyday. gasp 

#Neurotypical (NT) people often believe they can’t, won’t, or don’t have things in common with neurodiverse people, and that's... simply not true. One of the most prominent things we do share is the act of masking. Masking is the act of suppressing natural behaviors to fit in or be perceived as "acceptable" in a given environment.

For ND people, that might mean forcing eye contact or rehearsing small talk. But for NT professionals? It can look like laughing at jokes that aren’t funny, pretending to be enthusiastic when you’re exhausted, or shaping your personality to match workplace expectations.

Turns out, masking isn’t just tiring, it’s actual labor. I’ve linked an article below from Harvard Business Review that dives into how much energy goes into performing "acceptable" workplace behavior. A workplace performance, if you will. And personally? It resonated hard!

Whether someone at the water cooler just asked if you got a haircut or the person who will talk until their voice runs out is telling you all about their neighbor’s medical issues for some reason — if the interaction has you internally rolling your eyes but externally smiling and nodding, you’re putting on your own workplace performance.

If your mask is starting to feel heavy, start by noticing where you’re expending the most energy. What would happen if you allowed yourself the space to pull back and stop forcing enthusiasm? Maybe you give a polite smile instead of a forced laugh. Maybe you let yourself say, "I don’t have the bandwidth for that right now" instead of a forced yes. Small shifts add up, and you deserve to show up in a way that doesn’t leave you drained.

Let’s yap in the comments! Have you ever had a boss who told bad jokes — and did you fake laugh for them? Or maybe one that told long, drawn out, overly personal stories? I wanna hear about it!

Check out the article: https://lnkd.in /gsMxA6HG