Everybody has told a “little white lie” once in awhile right? To many people, lying seems to be something that they do all day everyday. And we know that lying has spiritual ramifications, meaning it’s something that we shouldn’t be doing. But have you ever wondered what happens to your physical brain when you tell a lie? That’s what we’re going to go through today so hang on!
What harm could telling a small lie do? How much damage can a really do? To answer that question we have to look at a part of the brain called the Cingulate Cortex.
Lying is a result of fear operating in a person’s life
First of all we have to realize that the Cingulate Cortex is wired to tell the truth. That means when you tell a lie… your brain knows it and what it does with that lie is really kind of interesting.
Cortisol is the stuff that makes you gain a lot of weight
This part of the brain signals other parts of the brain to do the things that it’s supposed to do on a daily basis but when we lie the Cingulate Cortex is not allowed to perform the natural functions, so it becomes stressed and releases stress hormones and Cortisol. Cortisol is the stuff that makes you gain a lot of weight! Other areas that it will affect will be attention, memory, blood pressure, appetite, digestion, metabolism and lack of sleep just to name a few. We also have to consider the mood swings, depression, irritability, difficulty, controlling one’s temper and the fight or flight response.
You can actually become addicted to lying
To those of you that have studied this you may recognize that this has many similarities to the physiological effect of addiction. That’s right! You can actually become addicted to lying. Lying is a result of fear operating in a person’s life. They are afraid and what someone might say or think or do if they knew the truth, and so they lie.
How does all of this fit in with a person’s temperament? I’m glad you asked that question! Within the five different temperaments (The Melancholy, The Choleric, The Sanguine, The Supine and The Phlegmatic) and thousands of various blends of temperament we have what we call temperament needs.
Getting these Temperament Needs met is vital and that is where fear comes in.
We become afraid that we will not get these temperament needs met and so we may begin lying in order to accomplish our goals.
Look for Fridays post where we complete this topic!