Crying has many benefits with many levels of effects. The different stages that life presents us, allows us human beings, to undergo different types of crying to soothe a discomfort, frightening or love emotion.
Have you ever wondered what are the exact benefits of crying? People have heard about the healing power of tears, but they don’t understand how does crying affect your well-being in a positive-way. After all, if it was a good thing, why do we cry when we’re sad? Alternatively, we could also ask ourselves why does crying make you feel better? If you want to understand the science behind the tears and know the reason why sometimes you just need a good cry, then read below the actual benefits of crying, backed up by science.
Humans can produce three types of tears: basal, reflex and emotional tears. Basal tears are protein-rich antibacterial liquids that keep your eyes moist whenever you blink (you could say you’re always crying basal tears!). Reflex tears are triggered by irritants (be it wind, smoke, onions and dust), as act as defensive wipers that flush out these irritants. Finally, the emotional ones are what their name implies: they’re born from intense emotions.
The major benefits of crying are the following:
1. Sometimes you just need a good cry because it has a soothing effect, both on you and the surrounding people. Crying regulates people’s emotions, helps them collect themselves and reduce their stress. Likewise, it also acts as an attachment mechanism, as it calls for support from people around in order to alleviate the person’s anxiety. It’s a social mechanism.
2. Crying releases endorphins and oxytocin, which eases people from both physical and emotional pain. As a consequence, they lift people’s spirits and make them feel better.
3. Why do we cry when we’re sad or stressed? Because our tears contain a big number of stress hormones and other toxins that affect us. Although research is rather inconclusive here, scientists agree that tears can clean your body system in some sort of way.
4. Small studies have found that crying can help babies sleep better. Although it hasn’t been proven that the same could apply to adults, the soothing healing powers of tears we’ve highlighted can help people relax with major ease.
5. Crying can kill bacteria and improve vision thanks to the lysozyme and basal tears your shed every time you blink. A good cry cleans you internally and externally, indeed!
Crying releases endorphins and other healthy chemicals that keep you in a good shape whenever you cry in response to emotions. However, if you cry often for no apparent reason and can’t control it during your daily activities, it might be a sign of depression. Other signs, such as concentration issues, lack of energy and sleep problems, could definitely back up this idea, so if you don’t feel the healing power of tears in these tears, you should definitely go check with a doctor.
So, let’s sum it up: what does crying do? It’s a self-cleansing mechanism that helps us recover from any kind of psychological distress. Why do we cry when we’re sad? To release ourselves from stress and toxins, and ultimately bring us back to tranquility. And why does crying make you feel better? Because crying releases endorphins, which are the ultimate healing power of tears. So remember: although you have to be strong in times of adversity, sometimes you just need a good cry in order to keep going. So whenever you feel like it, cry and release yourself!
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