See when lying stops being healthy and becomes a disease

On April 1, April Fools’ Day is celebrated. It is a tradition among western countries, such as Brazil, and the date is dedicated to playing pranks and pranks on other people through lies. However, despite the fun, the act of lying can become a habit that is harmful to health. According to neurosurgeon and neuroscientist Dr. Fernando Gomes, there is a brain circuit responsible for this action that is capable of creating a fact and, at the same time, being aware of the danger of this untruth.

Psychiatrist Dr. Jéssica Martani, a specialist in human behavior, explains that lying is a normal behavior for people and, many times, even necessary for life in society. However, she claims that it can also hide psychic illnesses in some cases.

Action of the critical sense in the lie

For Dr. Fernando Gomes, the frontal lobes in the brain are largely responsible for manipulating thoughts, which represent an important neurobiological acquisition of human species. “It is in this region where the decision to omit a fact, create a story or lie takes place. Close by, our critical sense, famous judgment or common sense, also lives in the same frontal lobes, and allows us to listen to our common sense”, he explains.

Of course, there are people who live more in the fantasy world and create so many lies that they end up believing them. That’s where the danger lies. “In fact, using the brain to enlarge and imagine stories helps to increase creativity, but it is important to do this with caution. Playing at lying is healthy, you just can’t overcome the barriers and believe in what doesn’t really exist”, completes the neurosurgeon.

social lies

For psychiatrist Dr. Jéssica Martani, the so-called “social lies” are those, for example, that say that the friend’s hair turned out great when, in fact, she did not, and they are not mental health problems, as long as they do not bring serious harm to other people. The expert also explains that lying is normal behavior, so you cannot consider all lies in the same way and with the same weight.

“However, like any other behavior, if it is excessive and if it causes damage or suffering (to the liar or to the other), it can be said that lying is pathological. In addition, one must take into account the feelings, thoughts and purposes that accompany the lie”, says the psychiatrist.

compulsive lying

The compulsive liar always knows, deep down, that what he says is not entirely true, although he is not fully aware of the intention of each tale. “Pathological lying or mythomania has as its main characteristic the uncontrollable tendency to tell lies, from small details to fanciful stories. In the case of the mythomaniac, the lies are not meant to ‘take advantage’ or ‘deceive’ the mythomaniac’s lie, many times they can also hide psychic illnesses and a fragile personality that needs medical help”, warns Dr. Jessica Martani.

Reasons why a person lies

In the childhood

Due to mental immaturity, children can lie with some recurrence, and many have difficulty facing frustrations and criticism. So they end up lying to their parents in the attempt to preserve his self-image. This characteristic only assumes a pathological character when the child is inclined to mythomania and finds that his lie can be understood as the truth without any associated negative consequence.

On the other hand, a feeling of pleasure and power can easily incite him to repeat the same behavior. As colleagues believe in her stories and she begins to feel accepted and interesting, the mythomaniac begins to tell more and more incredible stories and makes it a habit with the repetition of the behavior of lying without any specific purpose. This disorder may originate from the child’s low self-esteem and the overvaluation of their beliefs, with the failure to face the anguish or frustration associated with a situation.

in adult life

During maturity, people can lie for different reasons and there are several types of untruths, such as:

• Conventional lie: it is the one that makes people say “good morning” to others without actually wishing them a good day;
• Loving lie: makes adults make up stories like Santa Claus to make children happy;
• Kind lie: comforts a family member on the verge of death, with a “everything will be fine!”;
• good lie: when, for example, someone asks if the other person likes their new haircut and they say yes, even though they don’t. In that case, the truth would be a tremendous rudeness and it would be of no benefit.

In addition to these social lies, there are also those who embellish a story by telling them, to make it funnier or to attract viewers’ attention. All these lies are common and are not considered bad, precisely because they are sporadic and do not cause harm to the other.

By Mayra Barreto Cinel