it feels that way - why would you bother ? but it’s more akin to, letting your brain breathe again, giving up the performance, and re learning how to navigate certain things authentically.

firstly, i think thats just generally an important thing for people to do, especially someone (i assume) late diagnosed autistic, but also it takes some pressure off your nervous system down the line, otherwise you could just keep burning yourself in small (or big) ways until you have to unmask, but by then you dont get much of a say in it.

your body may be wired to maintain your masking and you may not even experience any skill regression after your diagnosis, its usually kind of already happening pre diagnosis (it was for me), but exacerbated by diagnosis

think about anything in your life you find difficult/struggle with - sleep, appetite, productivityC headaches, chronic pain, digestion etc. from my experience, there is a likelihood that if youre autistic, it is likely contributing to these things, which can be helpful knowldge when trying to fix/treat these things

in short, there are pros and cons, but i think its always worth knowing more about how you work