Jung, Autism and the Cost of Fitting In

Carl Jung described a tension that remains familiar to many autistic people: the effort to become what the surrounding world expects, and the cost of living too far from one's own disposition.

His writing raises a reasonable question. Could some of the people whose experiences informed his theories have been autistic?

That possibility remains open. The evidence supports a meaningful overlap between parts of Jung's account and experiences documented in contemporary autism research. Establishing the identity of particular historical individuals would require much more than a resemblance between descriptions.

The more useful connection concerns adaptation, exhaustion, identity and agency. Jung gives us one vocabulary for examining these experiences. Autistic people and contemporary researchers give us more specific accounts of how they can unfold.

What Jung observed

In Psychological Types, published in 1921, Jung argued that external pressure could force a person into an attitude contrary to their disposition. He described a reversal of psychological type as potentially harmful to physiological wellbeing, “often provoking an acute state of exhaustion”. His immediate subject was introversion and extraversion. 1

This was a historical psychological theory, rather than an investigation of autistic camouflaging. Its relevance lies in a question that remains useful: what does adaptation cost the person who is doing it?

Someone may meet an institution's expectations while spending so much effort on the performance that little capacity remains for the rest of their life. If success is judged only by outward behaviour, that cost can remain invisible.

There is also a historical complication. Jung used the word autism in his discussion of Bleuler's theory of schizophrenia. In that context, it referred to withdrawal into fantasy and was connected with his early use of introversion. That terminology cannot be carried directly into today's understanding of autism. 2

Jung's concept of the persona concerns the socially formed identity through which a person relates to the world. He distinguished that role from the individual and explored the tensions between personal development and collective expectations. His concept of individuation concerns becoming a more integrated self, including a different relationship with unconscious processes and with the roles a person has adopted. 2 3

These ideas offer a useful way to examine questions that can arise around autistic masking: Which parts of my behaviour express my preferences? Which have I learned to secure acceptance? What happens when maintaining that acceptance requires more energy than I can sustain?

The analogy has limits. Everyone participates in social roles, while autistic camouflaging can involve particular strategies for concealing differences or compensating for difficulties. Persona and masking describe related questions at different levels.

An illustrative example is a person who learns to rehearse conversations, manage eye contact and suppress visible discomfort. Others may conclude that social interaction has become easy. The person may experience it as a demanding sequence of conscious tasks.

Their outward presentation alone cannot tell us how much effort it requires.

What autism research adds

In a 2017 qualitative study, Laura Hull and colleagues examined camouflaging experiences reported by 92 autistic adults. Participants described efforts to fit in and connect with others, using both masking and compensatory strategies. They also reported exhaustion and difficulties with their sense of self. 4

The wish to connect deserves attention. Adapting to others can be an attempt to secure friendship, employment or belonging. It may bring practical benefits, even while imposing costs. This complicates any account in which autistic people simply reject social life or refuse to adapt.

Research on autistic burnout adds another part of the picture. Dora Raymaker and colleagues analysed 19 interviews and 19 public internet sources. Participants described chronic exhaustion, reduced functioning and reduced tolerance of sensory stimulation. Their accounts connected these experiences with accumulated demands and barriers to obtaining support or relief. 5

These were exploratory qualitative studies. They document experiences and help develop explanations; they do not establish a single causal pathway for every autistic person. They also cannot represent everyone across the spectrum, particularly people whose communication and support needs make participation in this kind of research difficult.

Taken together, they justify asking about the sustainability of adaptation. A person may be able to meet a demand on a particular occasion while being unable to sustain that pattern across a week, a year or a working life.

Finding a coherent identity later

Some autistic adults reach a clearer understanding of themselves after years of interpreting their difficulties through other people's expectations.

In an Australian oral-history study, Rozanna Lilley and colleagues interviewed 26 autistic adults who had been formally identified as autistic after the age of 35. For most, diagnosis had a positive effect on their sense of self, helping them understand their past and relate more positively to their autistic identity. 6

This provides a concrete parallel with the questions raised by individuation. A person can revisit the story they have told about themselves, reconsider what they need and make choices with a better understanding of how they function.

The study does not establish that this change occurs at a particular age or follows a universal sequence. Its participants were selected because they had been diagnosed later in life.

A useful interpretation is that some apparent lateness may involve delayed access to understanding, suitable conditions or support. Under that interpretation, an earlier difficulty becomes something to investigate rather than a final judgement about a person's potential.

Belonging depends partly on the interaction

A vivid inner life or difficulty fitting into a group does not establish that someone is incapable of connection.

Catherine Crompton and colleagues examined information transfer in a study involving 72 adults. Participants passed a story along chains composed of autistic people, nonautistic people, or a mixture of both. The mixed chains lost information more quickly and reported lower rapport. The all-autistic and all-nonautistic chains did not differ significantly in how much detail they retained. 7

This was one task with a limited participant group, so it cannot explain every social difficulty. It does provide evidence that communication outcomes can depend on the combination of people involved.

For support services, that invites a practical change in the questions we ask. Alongside examining a person's communication skills, we can examine whether expectations are clear, whether the communication method suits the people involved, and whether everyone has room to clarify meaning.

The quality of an interaction is something participants create together.

Growth without a predetermined story

Popular accounts of Jung sometimes turn these themes into a reassuring narrative: the misunderstood person suffers early, sees more deeply than everyone else, and eventually emerges into a stable and successful life.

That narrative goes beyond the evidence examined here.

Jung did discuss psychological changes around ages 35–40 in The Stages of Life. His account includes difficulties and changes in direction. It does not establish a timetable on which a rare personality reliably reaches coherence or success. 8

The autism research discussed here also provides no basis for ranking people by authenticity or assuming that social difficulty proves superior insight.

A person can develop insight through hardship without the hardship having been necessary. Later growth can coexist with lost opportunities, preventable exhaustion and support that should have arrived earlier.

We can recognise resilience while still asking how to reduce the burden that required it.

What this means for NableU

For NableU, the useful application of this comparison is to examine how support and community participation can preserve a person's agency while reducing unnecessary effort.

A service could begin by asking what the person is trying to achieve, which demands consume the most energy, and which adjustments would make participation sustainable. Depending on the person's preferences, that might involve written communication, predictable arrangements, time to process, clearer expectations or a different balance between activity and recovery.

These are design proposals arising from the discussion. Their value should be assessed through the experience and outcomes of the people using them.

Respect for individuality also needs to sit alongside practical assistance. Someone can need substantial support and still deserve meaningful control over the decisions that shape their life. The relevance of social conditions does not erase the diverse difficulties and support needs associated with autism. 9

Jung's writing offers a historical perspective on the relationship between the individual and collective expectations. Contemporary autism research helps us ask more specific questions about effort, identity and belonging.

The question for NableU is practical: which changes to communication, expectations and support allow autistic people to participate with greater agency, less exhaustion and a stronger sense of belonging?

Sources and further reading

Research commentary drawing on historical texts and contemporary studies. The proposed Jung–autism connection is an interpretation, not a historical diagnosis or an established account of autism. Study findings are distinguished from suggestions for NableU. The Lilley study is represented through its published abstract.

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