7 Effects Crying Has On Our Body and Mind
Watching a touching movie, going through
stressful events at home or work, and even receiving good news might all
trigger the same reaction - bursting into tears. Some people cry more
easily than others. Nonetheless, crying is a part of every person’s
life. Why does that happen? It isn’t clear. Humans are the only species
to weep from emotion and scientists still don’t know exactly how the
physical act of crying is connected to our feelings.
However, the study of crying did reveal a
few interesting effects it has on our body and mind - here are 7 ways in
which crying physically and mentally benefits us.
1. Crying can improve your mood
One of the known benefits of crying is that it relieves physical tension
and stress. We start crying just after our body reaches a peak of
psychological arousal, and the sympathetic activity in the nervous
system decreases while the parasympathetic activity increases. In other
words, crying occurs as our body returns from a "fight or flight state"
to a calm "rest and digest state."
It is also known that crying releases
endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good hormones, that contribute to a
better mood. Along with the release of stress, crying (and sobbing
specifically) can help regulate and even lower the temperature of your
brain. When you sob, you take in many quick breaths of cool air. A
normal temperature of the brain is perceived as more pleasurable for the
body. As a result, your mood may improve.
It’s important to note that it may take some time for those positive
consequences of crying to ‘kick in.' In fact, studies show that the
immediate effects of crying may actually make us feel worse. In a study
where participants were shown a sad film, most people reported a bad
mood right after crying. However, 20 and 90 minutes later, the
participants said that their mood was actually better than before the
movie.
2. Crying is a way for us to communicate and forge bonds
Crying is the first tool of communication people have as infants. Human
newborns don’t have the ability to cling to fur like other primates or
follow their mother’s scent. Thus, crying likely evolved in humans as a
way for infants to get their mothers' attention. Tears add a visual
component to this cry for help, making it clearer for the caregiver that
the baby needs them.
As adults, we turn this biological function
into an emotional one. Adult tears often convey the same message as
those of babies - ‘I need support’. “It is, in particular, a reaction to
a state of helplessness,” said Dr. Ad Vingerhoets, professor of social
and behavioral sciences at Tilburg University in the Netherlands.
Crying in front of others reveals our vulnerability. Therefore, it’s a
way for us to signal that we feel close to someone, that we trust them.
When people react to a person crying in a supportive and empathetic
manner, it creates an increased feeling of bonding and connection.
3. Crying may get rid of toxins
During the late 1970s and early 1980s,
biochemist William Frey conducted some groundbreaking research on crying
that suggested that tears help the body get rid of unwanted toxins.
When comparing emotional tears to irritant tears, like the ones
triggered by chopping onions, for example, Dr. Frey found that the two
kinds have a few chemical differences.
Emotional tears have a higher content of certain proteins that
accumulate as by-products of stress hormones like cortisol, which build
up during times of emotional turmoil and have damaging effects on our
body.
4. Crying has natural sanitizing properties
Another benefit Dr. Frey’s research
revealed is that crying may help kill bacteria. It is true that tears
contain lysozyme, a protein that has the ability to destroy powerful
bacteria. However, more research is needed to determine whether or not
crying has any actual properties to protect us from harmful bacteria.
Part of the reason no in-depth research on crying was done recently is
that it’s very difficult to make people cry to emotional stimuli
naturally in a lab environment and have their tears collected.
5. Crying promotes eye health
The basic biological function of tears is
to keep the eyes moist and protect them from fumes and debris. Emotional
tears seem to have evolved into something more complex than this simple
biological process, but this doesn't mean that this primary role of
tears is any less important.
Dry eyes that aren’t sufficiently moisturized by tears can lead to
irritation, pain, and even vision loss. Another interesting fact is that
patients with a dry eye condition called Sjogren's Syndrome had
decreased ability to identify their emotions, according to a study. The
exact reason why that occurs isn’t clear.
6. Crying is connected to our hormones
Women crying more often than men is not
just the result of cultural conditioning. Throughout history, the act of
crying has been seen as ‘weak,’ which often led men to hold back their
tears for fear of social judgment. But apparently, there is also a
physical reason why women cry more frequently than men.
According to several studies, testosterone seems to have an inhibitory
effect on crying. It is evident in men with prostate cancer who receive
hormones to lower their testosterone levels, and also in animal studies.
For women, a change in estrogen levels during PMS or postpartum can
increase the tendency to cry.
There is also some evidence that crying can be facilitated by the
hormone prolactin in both men and women. Prolactin is a hormone that has
more than 300 functions in the body, including regulation of the immune
system, metabolism, and reproduction.
7 Effects Crying Has On Our Body and Mind
While crying is an emotional act, its
manifestation is very physical. Headaches, blotchy skin, a runny nose,
and full-body sobs are just a few of the effects crying has on our body.
As we mentioned earlier, crying is a bridge of sorts between the high
arousal state of the fight-or-flight response to a more restful state.
The act of crying itself is still experienced as highly arousing for our
bodies, like a workout of sorts. People who cry experience an elevated
heart rate and increased sweating, which is what leads to the release of
endorphins and causes an array of other physical reactions.