14 ways a good cry affects your body and mind

Tears moisten the eyes and keep them healthy. “The biological function of tears is to keep the eye moist or protect it from fumes or debris that get into the eye,” says Dr Bylsma. “Emotional tears seemed to have evolved from this basic biological process into something more complex in humans that can occur for purely emotional rather than physical reasons.” Nevertheless, peepers that aren’t moisturised by tears can develop “dry eye,” which can cause pain and even lead to vision loss. But too much crying can actually irritate the eyes, which is why they get red and puffy after a major weeping session. How does this connect to emotional crying? It’s not clear, but a study of patients with the dry eye condition Sjogren’s syndrome found that they had a decreased ability to identify their emotions.

Higher testosterone levels may mean men are less likely to cry. “There is mainly anecdotal evidence – in transgendered [people] and men with prostate cancer receiving anti-hormones, but also some animal studies – that testosterone has an inhibitory effect on crying,” Dr Vingerhoets says. For women, a change in the level of oestrogen can increase crying during PMS and postpartum. But, how often men and women cry also has a cultural component. “The crying process is physically the same as far as we have measured, but women do cry much more frequently than men,” Dr Bylsma says. “Men often hold back tears for fear that society won’t seem them as strong or powerful – they are conditioned to feel shame with tears,” says Dr Orloff. “In our culture women have more permission to cry than men, so we are freer with it.”

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Crying isn’t just an emotional act – it’s a physical one. Wracking sobs, headaches, blotchy skin, a runny nose and full-body shakes are just a few of the effects crying can have on your body. Why does this happen? According to Dr Rottenberg, it has to do with the high arousal state of the flight-or-flight response. Although crying can be the bridge that leads to a more restful state, “in the short term of minutes, there is clear evidence that the act of crying is highly arousing,” he says. “People who cry exhibit elevated heart rates and increased sweating. In this sense, crying is a ‘workout’ for the body. However, the door is still open on the hypothesis that crying calms the body over the longer term – we just need more studies that examine the short- and longer-term effects.”

In both men and women, other hormones may be affected by crying. “Though the little available evidence is not really strong, it’s been suggested that prolactin may facilitate crying,” Dr Vingerhoets says. “It maybe can explain the maternity blues, the effects of alcohol on our crying threshold, and the occasional tears during orgasm.” We do know that crying increases endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good hormones, Dr Orloff adds, “so crying is clearly releasing tension and, as a result, you feel better.” This could be why we sometimes seek out crying by watching a sad movie.

Just as with negative emotions, a level of heightened arousal due to positive feelings can lead to crying. “Crying from negative emotions like sadness, frustration and anger is more common but crying does occur during extreme positive emotions too, like happiness, wonder and awe,” says Dr Bylsma. “It seems that crying is associated with intense physiological arousal that can be connected to both positive and negative emotions, and occurs just after the peak of the emotional experience as the individual is beginning to experience the release of that emotion.” This is why we might cry at weddings, when we see a newborn baby, or even at a magnificent sunset.

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Source: RD.com