What happens when your survival strategy becomes the thing standing between you and full recovery? In this episode of Dr. Marianne-Land: An Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast, Dr. Marianne Miller explores how masking and camouflaging shape the lives of neurodivergent people living with eating disorders. Through a trauma-informed, neurodivergent-affirming lens, she unpacks how chronic masking affects body trust, executive functioning, and safety in recovery. This conversation goes beyond the surface, offering insight into the deep intersection between identity, safety, and healing for autistic and ADHD people navigating disordered eating.

Masking, also known as camouflaging, is often praised as adaptability, but for many neurodivergent people it is a survival response that comes at a high cost. When you spend years performing normalcy, you can lose touch with your body’s natural rhythms, sensations, and needs. This episode reveals how masking contributes to disordered eating patterns and burnout, and why many neurodivergent individuals struggle to connect with hunger, fullness, and safety cues.

Dr. Marianne explains how unmasking can become an essential part of recovery when it is grounded in safety and choice. She also highlights the collective responsibility of clinicians, families, and communities to create environments where authenticity does not come with punishment.

What masking and camouflaging look like for autistic and ADHD people

How chronic masking disconnects you from body cues and emotions

The relationship between executive function burnout and chaotic eating

Masking inside therapy and recovery spaces

How unmasking becomes a healing process when safety is prioritized

The crucial role of neurodivergent-affirming, sensory-aware support

The realities of intersectionality and why unmasking is not equally safe for everyone

Unmasking can be freeing, but it is not always safe. For people living at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities, such as people of color, fat people, queer and trans individuals, and those with disabilities, authentic self-expression often carries real risks. Systems rooted in racism, fatphobia, ableism, and heteronormativity still punish difference.

In this segment, Dr. Marianne offers guidance on how to navigate those risks without self-betrayal. She invites listeners to think of unmasking as a gradual and relational process rather than a demand for constant transparency. Authenticity must coexist with safety, and strategic masking can be a legitimate survival tool. Recovery is not about abandoning the mask everywhere; it is about finding and creating spaces where the mask can come off without harm.

This episode is for:

Neurodivergent adults and teens in eating disorder recovery

Autistic and ADHD individuals struggling with food, body image, or ARFID

Therapists seeking to provide neurodivergent-affirming, sensory-informed care

People navigating multiple marginalized identities who feel unsafe unmasking in treatment

Parents and partners who want to better understand masking, executive functioning, and sensory needs in eating behaviors

This episode includes discussion of eating disorder behaviors, masking fatigue, and systemic oppression. Listener discretion is advised, especially if you are in early recovery or working through trauma related to identity or body shame.

If today’s episode resonated with you, explore Dr. Marianne’s ARFID & Selective Eating Course, a self-paced, neurodivergent-affirming resource that supports sensory-based eating, autonomy, and compassion in recovery. Learn more at drmariannemiller.com.