You Were Born With Tear Ducts For A Reason
Everyone cries, it’s not a gender-specific activity. Moreover, I’m going to give you nine reasons why crying is good for your health and how it can benefit you in a multitude of ways. It’s an important part of processing emotions and healing from traumatic experiences.
Whether we cry in reaction to a physical stimulant, such as chopping onions, or in response to an emotion, humans are designed to cry. Some people believe that crying is a sign of weakness, as a result of societal programming. Whereas, research shows that crying is good for your health and why we should give ourselves permission to cry easily.
Humans Cry In Three Different Ways.
Emotional Tears: crying is a natural response humans have to a range of emotions, including sadness, loss, grief, joy, anger, frustration and more. Interestingly, these tears contain higher amounts of stress hormones than other tears.
Basal Tears: We are constantly secreting basal tears to keep our eyes hydrated when we blink. These tears are antibacterial and protect the eye from infection.
Reflex Tears: Have you ever cried when you chop onions? Reflex tears are triggered by irritants such as wind, smoke, and onions. We release them to purposefully wash these irritants out of our eyes.
During this article, I’m discussing tears triggered by pain, either physical or emotional, and basal tears. So, here are nine reasons why crying is good for your health.
Reason One - Crying Is Pain-Relieving
That’s right! When we cry, our incredibly clever bodies know to release pain-relieving hormones such as oxytocin (the connection chemical) and endorphins (the runner’s drug), which I’ve discussed previously in my article about happiness.
In 2014, a study was completed to investigate whether crying was a self-soothing behaviour.[1] The findings indicated that the act of crying produced these feel good and pain relieving chemicals in the body.
Reason Two: Crying Can Help You Sleep Better
Although this research applies to children rather than adults, this study [3] demonstrates that leaving a child to cry during the night aids their ability to sleep and to learn self-soothing.
In fact, even though some people imagine that leaving a child to cry in the cot may increase stress and trigger attachment issues, the study result showed otherwise.
“Compared with the control group, large reductions in nocturnal wakefulness resulted from each treatment. Despite assertions that extinction-based methods may result in elevated cortisol, emotional and behavioural problems, and insecure parent-infant attachment, our data did not support this hypothesis.”
It’s logical to assume that adults can benefit from the same sleep support as the results of this study demonstrated for children.
If we can look at crying and sleep as part of the energetic and mental healing process from trauma, we may find it a more acceptable part of daily life.
Reason Three: Crying Can Make You Feel More Stable
Another study carried out by Yale University in 2014 [2], suggested that crying my form an important part of regulating our emotions. It may actually increase our emotional stability, and who wouldn’t want to maintain equilibrium in their emotional state?
If crying can help us self-soothe, managing our own emotional state, it’s an empowering tool to have.
Reason Four: Crying Is Good For Your Eyesight
We release Basal tears every time we blink and this keeps the mucous membranes hydrated. By lubricating our eyes with basal tears we’re able to see more clearly and simultaneously keep our eyes free from bacteria.
That’s a good reason to let those tears fall, rather than rushing to wipe them away.
Reason Six: Crying Helps Us Practice Vulnerability
Crying is predominantly a social and attachment function. We learn to cry as babies when we want a physical connection with our parents, especially our mothers.
As adults, learning to accept crying as a normal part of life, allows us to connect more with our vulnerability. That is to say, the more comfortable we are with are vulnerability, the easier it is to find our strength.
Moreover, when we allow others to see us cry, this demonstrates that we trust them with our vulnerability. This act of sharing creates a bonding connection. Even better, others can model our behaviour and feel equally free to show their vulnerability.
If someone is confident that you can share their tears and feelings with you, and you will act in a non-judgemental way, this becomes a healthy way to share and express our feelings.
As a result, we’re actually raising the vibration of society by allowing more and more people in our circle to feel safe and express their emotions.
Reason Seven: Crying Supports Acceptance Of Feelings Now
Acceptance of emotional flow allows us to feel the full spectrum of our emotions, and utilise the energy they create. When we repress or numb selective emotions, we are repressing the full range of our emotions. If you give yourself permission to cry, you also give yourself permission to feel joy, happiness, and every other emotion on the scale.
Moreover, if you’ve worked with me as a coach, you’ll know that I encourage full-blown wailing. I’m a great believer in committing to our emotions. If you’re feeling sad, dive under the duvet and commit. Wail loudly until you can’t wail anymore. Why? Because, the more you accept the feeling is present and the greater your commitment to feeling it, the faster you can shift into a new, more positive emotional state.
If you fully commit, you reach a stage where you’re either bored of feeling a negative emotion, or you just can’t feel it anymore. Either way, the state shifts.
Would You Like A Free Support Tool To Support You With Acceptance?
Reason Eight: Crying May Release Cortisol (Stress Hormones) And Toxins From The Body
The same ‘crying is a self-soothing behaviour’ study from 2014 [1], also suggests that crying may actually remove toxins and cortisol from the blood stream. The study involved the assessment of cortisol levels in women before and after watching an emotional movie.
Honestly, this has not been proven beyond doubt, however, I believe that any activity which may remove stress hormones and toxins from the body is a worthy one. Anything to support our immune system today is a good idea!
Reason Nine: Crying Releases Pent Up Emotions
Sometimes, our emotions can feel overwhelming and intense. When we feel this emotional pressure, it can be challenging to express those feelings in words. In fact, some feelings are beyond words.
Often, a good cry can allow us a complete release of the energy of these emotions, whatever they are.
Final Thoughts On Crying
Embracing the act of crying is clearly good for our health. It’s important to acknowledge and identify when crying is a healthy process and it’s not.
If you find yourself crying very frequently, or on a daily basis, it might be a good idea to seek support and address the underlying cause.
The more we move into acceptance, the closer the relationship we build with ourselves. A knowing of ‘self’ allows for a greater level of self-regulation and the ability to ask for help when we need it.
Find Out More About Working With Me
If you’d like to find out more about coaching with me, or if you’d like to arrange a call to see if we’re a good fit for one another, please send me an email to sarah@sarahmerron.com.
You can book coaching online here.
If you’re interested in group training and coaching, you can check out my Farcical Life Programmes here.
