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Senior Correspondent

A Notre Dame researcher asked subjects to stop lying for 10 weeks.  During that time, she checked their progress with polygraph tests.  The findings showed that, when people lied less often (during 10 weeks), they reported better physical and mental health.  Specifically, people said they had:

  1. fewer physical complaints such as headaches and sore throats
  2. fewer emotional complaints, such as a reduction in tension
  3. improvements in close personal relationships
  4. smoother social interactions

Nice, huh? I suspect that the subjects were burdened by carrying around lies and felt relief and freedom from being honest. I wonder if schools other than Notre Dame would have quite the same findings.

Source: Anita Kelly Ph.D., Notre Dame University

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