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Pretending to be myself: on camouflaging and selfhood in the experience of anxiety

Anna Bortolan Orcid Logo

Philosophical Psychology, Pages: 1 - 23

Swansea University Author: Anna Bortolan Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/09515089.2025.2596269

Abstract

Drawing on the notion of “camouflaging” and its characterization within research on autism, this paper explores the role that attempts to conceal one’s experiences may have in the phenomenology of anxiety. I start by suggesting that actions associated with both the “masking” and “compensating” dimen...

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Published in: Philosophical Psychology
ISSN: 0951-5089 1465-394X
Published: Informa UK Limited 2026
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71026
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spelling 2026-02-27T14:30:50.1149280 v2 71026 2025-12-01 Pretending to be myself: on camouflaging and selfhood in the experience of anxiety 9931f2ee5e3c744a5af4b5668a6f0f8c 0000-0002-6544-998X Anna Bortolan Anna Bortolan true false 2025-12-01 SOSS Drawing on the notion of “camouflaging” and its characterization within research on autism, this paper explores the role that attempts to conceal one’s experiences may have in the phenomenology of anxiety. I start by suggesting that actions associated with both the “masking” and “compensating” dimension of camouflaging may be present in different forms of anxiety. I then proceed to argue that these actions may foster the person’s ability to sustain their identity when some of its core aspects are seen as being threatened by anxious feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. I do so by drawing on an account of selfhood to which both affective and narrative processes are central, suggesting that, in some cases, actions associated with camouflaging can facilitate the experience of affects and the upholding of narratives that are self-constitutive. Journal Article Philosophical Psychology 0 1 23 Informa UK Limited 0951-5089 1465-394X Camouflaging; anxiety; self; affective; narrative 22 1 2026 2026-01-22 10.1080/09515089.2025.2596269 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) 2026-02-27T14:30:50.1149280 2025-12-01T08:42:11.9550003 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations Anna Bortolan 0000-0002-6544-998X 1 71026__36326__75160261b5dd40c2aa73cf6aa3706b1f.pdf 71026.VoR.pdf 2026-02-27T14:29:25.3951874 Output 778299 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2026 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true Eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Pretending to be myself: on camouflaging and selfhood in the experience of anxiety
spellingShingle Pretending to be myself: on camouflaging and selfhood in the experience of anxiety
Anna Bortolan
title_short Pretending to be myself: on camouflaging and selfhood in the experience of anxiety
title_full Pretending to be myself: on camouflaging and selfhood in the experience of anxiety
title_fullStr Pretending to be myself: on camouflaging and selfhood in the experience of anxiety
title_full_unstemmed Pretending to be myself: on camouflaging and selfhood in the experience of anxiety
title_sort Pretending to be myself: on camouflaging and selfhood in the experience of anxiety
author_id_str_mv 9931f2ee5e3c744a5af4b5668a6f0f8c
author_id_fullname_str_mv 9931f2ee5e3c744a5af4b5668a6f0f8c_***_Anna Bortolan
author Anna Bortolan
author2 Anna Bortolan
format Journal article
container_title Philosophical Psychology
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publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
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doi_str_mv 10.1080/09515089.2025.2596269
publisher Informa UK Limited
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department_str School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations
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description Drawing on the notion of “camouflaging” and its characterization within research on autism, this paper explores the role that attempts to conceal one’s experiences may have in the phenomenology of anxiety. I start by suggesting that actions associated with both the “masking” and “compensating” dimension of camouflaging may be present in different forms of anxiety. I then proceed to argue that these actions may foster the person’s ability to sustain their identity when some of its core aspects are seen as being threatened by anxious feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. I do so by drawing on an account of selfhood to which both affective and narrative processes are central, suggesting that, in some cases, actions associated with camouflaging can facilitate the experience of affects and the upholding of narratives that are self-constitutive.
published_date 2026-01-22T05:31:35Z
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score 11.453587

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