Why crying is good

Seasonal affective disorder causes a person to feel low during a particular season of the year. It is now more commonly known as major depressive…. Eight benefits of crying: Why it's good to shed a few tears. Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, Ph. Why do people cry? Benefits of crying When to see a doctor Takeaway Crying is a natural response humans have to a range of emotions, including sadness, grief, joy, and frustration.

Share on Pinterest Crying is a natural response to emotions or irritants like dust in the eyes. Benefits of crying. When to see a doctor. Share on Pinterest Crying has a number of health benefits, but frequent crying may be a sign of depression. Latest news Could 'cupping' technique boost vaccine delivery? Scientists identify new cause of vascular injury in type 2 diabetes. Adolescent depression: Could school screening help? Related Coverage. You can take it slow — "you have to go back and work with the inner child a little bit, because the inner child is the one who shut it off when it wasn't safe to cry," Orloff said.

By crying, we can allow ourselves to be vulnerable. That's good "because you can't always be on guard all the time," Sideroff said. Being vulnerable and letting down your guard is a way of recovering, in a sense, from stress and tension.

People often report feeling better after they cry. That could be because crying forces us to pay attention to what triggered us and work through our emotions and thoughts, Bylsma said. Crying might also help in understanding what's important to us, especially if we cry over something that upset us unexpectedly. When you're stressed, your sympathetic nervous system activity is heightened.

The stress-relieving response of crying has been found to be preceded by an uptick in parasympathetic nervous system activity, which means crying is facilitating activity that helps you start to relax, Bylsma said. Emotional tears might be unique in their chemical makeup. Concentrations of prolactin, manganese, serotonin, cortisol and adrenaline have been detected in emotional tears, most of which have some role in mood and stress regulation. However, some theories on components of tears are old and haven't yet been replicated in research, Bylsma said.

How to make good decisions when you're paralyzed by the stress of protests and the pandemic. Crying can be beneficial in group settings , and the Japanese have taken the findings to heart — in some areas, there are " crying clubs " called "rui-katsu" tear-seeking , where people participate in cathartic sob fests.

Adjusting to outer constraints. Sometimes you may be suppressing painful emotions without realizing it. Crying can help you recognize that something is wrong, whether it be emotional or a physical situation you are in. Once you realize that something is going on, you can take the proper steps to identify precisely what that is. From there, you can cope with your emotions healthily to avoid further suppressing them.

Feeling down can cause you to isolate or simply not tell those around you that you are struggling. However, crying can notify those close to you that you need help. This begins when you are a baby, as crying is an attachment behavior that humans engage in to receive support from others. When others can see you are struggling when you cry, you can grow your support circle for further friendship and assistance.

Dry eyes can lead to discomfort and an inability to fight infection. By crying, your eyes will be more lubricated to alleviate the discomfort and help keep your eyes free of infection. If you find yourself crying emotional tears consistently over an extended period, it could allude to a deeper issue at hand. This could mean it is time to seek help from a professional to help your overall mental health and wellbeing.

There is no shame in needing extra help sometimes, and crying can alert you that it is time to seek it out. With many different connotations surrounding crying, most people tend to associate it with negative thoughts and feelings. However, crying has numerous health benefits that can positively affect your life. Thinkers and physicians of ancient Greece and Rome posited that tears work like a purgative, draining off and purifying us. Crying is an important safety valve, largely because keeping difficult feelings inside — what psychologists call repressive coping — can be bad for our health.

Studies have linked repressive coping with a less resilient immune system, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension, as well as with mental health conditions , including stress, anxiety, and depression.

Crying has also been shown to increase attachment behavior , encouraging closeness, empathy, and support from friends and family. Scientists divide the liquid product of crying into three distinct categories: reflex tears, continuous tears, and emotional tears. The first two categories perform the important function of removing debris such as smoke and dust from our eyes, and lubricating our eyes to help protect them from infection.

Researchers have established that crying releases oxytocin and endogenous opioids, also known as endorphins. These feel-good chemicals help ease both physical and emotional pain. Popular culture, for its part, has always known the value of a good cry as a way to feel better — and maybe even to experience physical pleasure. The millions of people who watched classic tearjerker films such as West Side Story or Titanic among others will likely attest to that fact.

From early on, boys are told that real men do not cry. When these boys grow up, they may stuff their feelings deep inside and withdraw emotionally from their loved ones, or self-medicate with alcohol or drugs, or even become suicidal.

Many men therefore need to learn the skills of how to reconnect with their emotions. Ideally, however, such education should begin early on, at home or at school, with adults making it safe for boys to talk about difficult feelings.

The collective grief over these losses can only be described as staggering. It is no surprise, then, that at times like these our feelings are closer to the surface, and that many people who were not previously prone to crying find themselves tearing up more easily.

In fact, as one medical professional put it, showing emotion in public may have become a new normal. Conversely, people suffering from certain kinds of clinical depression may actually not be able to cry, even when they feel like it.