[fallingfrog]

There are situations where this doesn't work- what if you are gay and surrounded by people who would beat you if they knew? What if you have ADHD and are surrounded by type A people? What if you are a bookworm surrounded by jocks? What if you are just so different from everyone around you that they are just baffled by your existence? Revealing your true nature can be not only difficult, but in fact dangerous. It can put you at great risk.

And the sad thing is, if you grew up this way, you're going to learn to be very defensive and keep all your feelings secret and you're going to learn to blend in, and never let anyone see who you are, in order to protect yourself. And that will become a habit to the extent that anyone finding out anything about you is going to trigger fear rather than relief.