“Hurtful Words Can Injure the Brain”

New studies show that angry words damage our brain and the brains of the ones we say them too. All the spiritual text talk about holding our tongue and not saying anything that will hurt… and also letting go of negative thoughts.

There is a reason we have been told down through the ages in all the spiritual texts not to speak unkind and hurtful words. These words not only hurt the brain of the one we are speaking too… they also hurt the brain of the one uttering those words. There is much in the way of great wisdom in all the spiritual texts. Wisdom that most people take for granted until some scientific understanding comes along.

When we say something hurtful we do damage to our prefrontal cortex according to researchers by Newberg and Waldman in their book “Words Can Change Your Brain” shows that every thought, every feeling, every word uttered either creates positive or negative changes in our frontal cortex.

A study in the American Journal of Psychiatry with the Harvard Medical School showed that kids who were being verbally abused in middle school had much less in the way of impulses moving from one side of the brain to the other side. And this creates anxiety, depression, anger, hostility, and a much greater propensity for using drugs later in life.

Words create either nourishing chemicals that help the brain grow and interconnect with more brain cells. Or they create neurotoxins that disconnect brain cells and cause challenges for children as they grow older. So the old saying “Sticks and Stones Can Brake My Bones But Words Can Never Hurt Me” is completely false… words can do amazing damage to a person.

And children who grow up in verbally abusive homes have one strike against. Their brains will not grow like other children who grow up in loving caring homes and hear words of affection and love. Unfortunately once negative words are uttered the damage to their brains is already done and there is very little that can be done to unto that damage. So it’s vital that we nurture our children with love. And most of all fill our children with loving and kind words that create neurochemicals that bath their brains with healing growth… which creates harmony in the mind-body.

And if we constantly think thoughts that are negative, degrading, and angry we are causing irreversible damage to our brains. Damage that leads to more depression, anger, and even greater self generated hostility. Thus this cycle of words and damage never ends and we are caught in a never ending cycle of hurting the one we see in the mirror.

So whether we have verbally expressed words pointed towards another, or words we say to ourselves it all causes damage to the one we see in the mirror and others. Thus it’s important to read all the spiritual texts because the avatars, saints, and great teachers who have come and gone have all taught amazing wisdom.. and all of this shows the power of Love!

But are we willing to listen to the wisdom of God, the Universe, and Great Spirit—that’s the question?

Many Blessings to Everyone!

Dr. Paul Haider