Here’s why crying your heart out makes you feel better
Crying has more than emotional benefits.
Let’s start with a fun fact, shall we? Did you know that humans are the only species that shed tears? Animals let out certain (heart-wrenching) sounds and Darwin thought elephants and monkeys can tear up too. However, modern research suggests that humans are the only species that are capable of a full-blown weepy breakdown. How exciting for us, right? Out of all the superpowers we could’ve been bestowed with, the universe gave us tears. Here’s the thing though, in a lot of ways, crying might be our unsung superpower. Don’t raise your eyebrows till the moon, hear us out.
I am sure you’re wondering how your puffy eyes, runny nose and overall ugly crying face is supposed to be a superpower, right? For the next 10 minutes, let’s forget about how we look during and after an earth-shattering cry. We’re going to dissect why after we’ve cried our eyes out (so to speak) we automatically feel 15 times lighter and clearer in the head. Crying is always seen as a sign of weakness. We’re taught not to express the feelings that might inconvenience others. However, sometimes, it might just be what the doctor ordered.
Don’t worry, we won’t force you to introspect any childhood traumas. But we do ask that you dig through your treasure trove of memories and think back to your absolute worst crying sessh. The time you cried like the sky was falling—it could be when you locked yourself in the office bathroom stall after your boss screamed at you or the time you lost your childhood pet. Got a hold of the memory? Good. Now focus on how you felt immediately after the tears stopped falling. Even if you weren’t A-okay, chances are that you felt a tad more relaxed; like you could breathe again.
Letting your emotions flow through eyes is extremely therapeutic. It helps us weed through our emotions and come out on the other side with a renewed sense of hope. In fact, crying has numerous benefits. Scroll down and you’ll never feel guilty for having a breakdown ever again.
It boosts your mood
Do you know the first thing people say to someone who is bawling is to stop crying or to calm down? Never listen and maybe send them a link to this article. Whether you’re crying happy tears or tears of sorrow and grief, the bottom line is, crying is an expression of overwhelming emotion. And when you let all those feelings out as opposed to bottling up inside, you end up feeling a gigantic sense of relief and calm, thus, boosting your mood.
It keeps the bad particles out
There are three kinds of tears—reflex tears, basal tears and emotional tears. While emotional tears need no explanation, allow us to take you through the other two. Reflex tears are triggered when there is something in your eye. Their only job is to wash out the foreign particle. These are made of water and might even contain antibodies to fight an infection (if any). Basal tears are the ones that keep your eyes protected and lubricated. These are made of oil, mucus, and water. So you see, crying has more than emotional benefits.
It helps to dull pain and self-soothe
Research has found that crying maybe be one of our best built-in defense mechanisms. It activates our parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). If you paid any attention in your eighth grade biology class, then you’ll know the PNS helps the body rest. This is one of the main reasons that we feel better after shedding tears. Another reason is that crying for a long time releases oxytocin and endorphins (otherwise known as feel-good hormones). These are behind the blanket of calm you feel once the tears stop rolling.
It resets emotional balance
You ever had one of those days when it feels like the universe is plotting against you? Everything feels off balance and nothing seems to be going right. Your emotional baseline is all out of whack and you’re frustrated at the fact that all bad things are seemingly happening to together. So you find a quiet corner and burst into tears. You clutch your sides, squeeze your eyes shut and cry until the tank is empty. However, when you open your eyes again your emotional balance has been restored. You feel like your normal self again.
Who knew crying was the reset button we’ve been looking for?
