Crying is one of the human body’s natural reactions to a variety of emotions. Many people think crying just occurs when someone is sad or something bad happens, but this is not the case. This occurs while experiencing many emotions besides sadness including happiness, anger and fear. Many do not know that crying actually holds many benefits including releasing stress and emotional pain, enhancing mood and bettering health.
One of the many benefits of crying is that it causes a release of stress and emotional pain from the body. According to North Star Transitions, when humans cry emotional tears they release stress hormones, known as endorphins, that improve one’s overall mood. The release of these chemicals relieve physical and emotional pain from the body. When these endorphins are released, the body calms down and feels a sense of happiness or calmness. This release of emotions lowers stress hormones, which aids in sleep and immune system support. As well as releasing endorphins, when people cry they take deep breaths of air which regulates and lowers brain temperatures, which is more pleasing to the body than warmer brain temperatures.
Another benefit crying holds is that it has a self-soothing effect. Self soothing is when someone is able to control their feelings, calm themselves down and ease their own stress. When one cries, all three of these things occur, therefore causing a soothing and calming effect. Crying can even normalize one’s mood by balancing the body’s emotional equilibrium, which is the process where one allows themselves to feel all their emotions without suppressing them. When someone is feeling an emotion very strongly, the body’s reaction is to produce tears to recover from this emotion.
One of the most healthy benefits of crying regularly is how it positively impacts the body. According to Healthline, there are three different types of tears including reflex tears, continuous tears and emotional tears. Reflex tears flush out the eyes ridding them of debris, continuous tears keep the eyes from becoming too dry or infected and emotional tears contain stress hormones and other toxins that are flushed from the body when one cries. Crying activates the parasympathetic nervous system in the body which is responsible for relaxing the body after episodes of stress or anger. When this nerve is activated, heart rate and breathing slows calming one down. The relief of pain is not instant, but takes a few minutes to kick in. After long periods of crying, when endorphins are released and the parasympathetic nervous system is activated, relief is brought to the body providing a calm and sometimes happy feeling.
A common misconception about crying too often is that it is unhealthy for people’s mental health. It is believed that crying too frequently can disrupt everyday life and encourage depression. While it is true that crying too much may be a sign of a bigger problem, there is no problem with crying if it is not constant. According to OrlandoHealth, a study found that the average woman cries 5.3 times per month and the average man cries 1.3 times per month. While it is completely normal to cry this many times a month or even a few more, OrlandoHealth found that if one finds themself crying uncontrollably or when they are not feeling emotional, this could be a sign of a neurological condition or brain injury.
While many people misunderstand frequent crying and think it is an unhealthy sign of an underlying issue, crying presents people with many benefits including the release of stress and emotional pain, mood enhancement and better health. In order to receive all of the positive impacts of crying, it is important to understand the benefits of crying and understand that it does not always signify a deeper issue.
