SFU researchers say hiding ADHD traits to get through the workday drains focus and can push neurodivergent staff toward burnout
Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are working a hidden second job on top of their actual one: constantly monitoring and suppressing their own symptoms just to get through the day, according to new research out of Simon Fraser University (SFU). Some 91.6 per cent of the 202 adults with ADHD surveyed for the study said they mask or camouflage their traits in social situations, including at work, a pattern the researchers say drains the same cognitive resources employees need to focus, retain information and stay engaged in meetings.
The study, conducted with adults in British Columbia diagnosed with ADHD by a pediatrician, medical doctor, psychologist or psychiatrist, asked participants to describe their own experiences of camouflaging in writing. For a publication whose readers are responsible for the psychological as well as physical safety of their workforce, the findings point to a mental health risk that often goes undetected because, by design, it is meant to be invisible.
What masking looks like on the job
Marisa Mylett, a PhD researcher in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Lab at Simon Fraser University, said participants described several categories of camouflaging behaviour that show up specifically at work.
"It can also look like pretending to pay attention by nodding along, saying yeah, mm-hmm, when folks with ADHD, their mind might be focused on something else or focused on that performative action than what is actually being said," Mylett said.
Other behaviours included suppressing the urge to fidget, move around or interrupt during meetings, along with what Mylett's team categorized as compensation: planning ahead, overpreparing, or overworking behind the scenes to offset visible ADHD traits in workplace settings.
The hidden cognitive cost
The study found camouflaging interferes with cognitive functions like memory and focus, because the energy spent monitoring and adjusting behaviour leaves less capacity for the meeting or task at hand.
Grace Iarocci, a professor of psychology and director of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Lab at Simon Fraser University, who also works part-time as a licensed psychologist, said the pattern matches what she sees in her own adult clients with ADHD or autism.
"They've told me this themselves, that they seem to work three times, four times harder than other colleagues on the same type of job," Iarocci said. "They're doing their work, but they're also having to do all of this extra performative monitoring and adjusting their behaviour in order to get by."
That double duty, the researchers said, can lead to anxiety and, over time, burnout severe enough that some people become unable to work, a pathway distinct from the workload-driven exhaustion that has led to burnout as an occupational phenomenon.
What health and safety leaders can do
Because masking is designed to hide symptoms, employers and health and safety leaders may have no idea an employee is struggling until the exhaustion becomes visible. Mylett said the starting point has to be education, building understanding of adult ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence as differences that carry real strengths, including creativity, curiosity and unconventional thinking.
"This awareness and understanding of ADHD traits as differences, which also includes many strengths, such as creativity, curiosity, passion, being outside the box, can help shift the discourse and some of the stereotypes and stigma that exists around ADHD today," Mylett said.
In practice, that can mean normalizing fidgeting or movement during meetings and recognizing that multitasking or more animated speech can be a sign of engagement in a neurodivergent employee rather than disrespect, a shift in workplace culture that helps break the stigma of mental health, and is central to reducing self-censorship at work.
Iarocci pointed to one workplace that brought in a speaker on neurodivergence, an optional session that nonetheless signalled to staff that the topic was open for discussion.
"It's okay to talk about this," Iarocci said. "There are things we can do to be more accepting of our colleagues."
Neither researcher argued that individual employees should bear the burden of changing their behaviour. Instead, they framed accommodation and cultural flexibility as a two-way benefit, one that also ties into the broader case for treating the workplace mental health crisis as a business imperative for employers weighing where to direct wellness spending. Mylett described it as a structural fix, not a personal one.
"This creates an environment for someone to thrive in as an employee, as a person, and ultimately benefits an organization as well," Mylett said.
