Something you've never told anyone

Think about how much of yourself you keep from other people

(I cheated on my husband during our honeymoon)

What you shared is just a tip of massive iceberg

and it's the same with everyone around you

So why do we see people who keep secrets from us as dishonest

(I love my daughter but I regret having her at 18)

When we don't see ourselves the same way

No matter how damaging

neuroscientists agree it's better to share your secrets

(I'm addicted to bad relationships.)

Your brain is naturally wired to tell the truth

When you keep a secret, your brain simulates how awful the reveal will be

(My girlfriend is transgender. Nobody knows but me.)

And floods with the rush of stress hormones

This affects your memory, your sleep and your ability to fight off disease

Studies have even shown that people with deep secrets

perceive hills as steeper than people without them

(My father doesn't know how scared I am of him)

The larger the secret, the steeper the hill

But once you divulge your secrets

you may find it's not as terrible as you thought

(I sometimes leave money on a gas pump for people to find.)

Holocaust victims with long buried memories showed incredible health

improvement when they started sharing their stories

And more they shared, the more their health improved.

The moment you reveal the secret

you loss a kind of power- a dark mysterious part of you is laid bare for others

Because now, they've seen the real you

(my biggest regret is not picking up my dad's call the night before he died.)

But maybe is not a lost at all

maybe that hill isn't so steep

maybe the only power you lost is

when your secret had over you know

(I don't think anyone is normal.)

So what's your secret?