Camouflaging: Psychopathological meanings and clinical relevance in autism spectrum conditions

In the last decade, increasing literature focused on camouflaging as a strategy adopted to cope with social environment by subjects with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A better understanding of this phenomenon may shed more light on cognitive mechanisms and coping strategies of subjects in the autism continuum, eventually leading to reconsider some previous "dogmas" in this field, such as the gender's discrepancy in ASD diagnosis. Moreover, shared features can be observed in the camouflaging strategies adopted amongst the general population, amongst subjects of the autism spectrum and amongst patients with different kinds of psychiatric disorders, further challenging our perspectives. Camouflaging behaviours might be considered as a transdiagnostic element, closely associated with the continuous distribution of the autism spectrum amongst the general and the clinical population.