Six Reasons Why Crying Is Healthy
Many people associate crying with being weak. Nothing is less true. When you cry, you vent and release your suppressed feelings. That’s why crying is healthy.
In addition, crying is not just for negative emotions – you can also cry for happiness.
Society has always believed that people should be strong and that you should not show your feelings to anyone. When you take that hard armor off you, you feel vulnerable and exposed, which can be terrifying.
You may have also heard the expression, “real men don’t cry.” Well, let’s be the first to tell you that men often have the same or even more sensitive emotions than women.
They have the same emotions as everyone else, but thanks to machismo and social conventions, they don’t show them.
If you suppress your emotions, you will get psychological problems and you will become even weaker. You will never find a cure for your suffering if you don’t admit it or express it.
You should not be ashamed of your tears, because crying is normal. It means you are human. And you should be aware that it has multiple benefits for your emotional and physical health.
That’s why today we’ve made a short list of some reasons why crying is healthy.
From now on you will know better than to suppress or hold back what you feel inside. Get rid of that huge emotional burden.
6 Reasons Why Crying Is Healthy And You Should Allow It
1. It reduces stress
You face thousands of stressful situations every day, including negative thoughts and problems at work or in your relationships with others. If you don’t know how to properly manage your feelings, you may become overwhelmed by the burden you are carrying and end up doing or saying things that you will later regret.
A good way to relieve that pressure from stress is to cry. This will help you express any negative feelings and concerns you may have.
It doesn’t matter how you do it, alone or with an understanding friend.
- Tears release a substance known as adrenocorticotropin (a hormone associated with stress), as well as prolactin and leucine-encephalin. These are natural pain relievers.
- This is why you feel a little calmer after you cry.
2. It helps you get over your pain
There is nothing more painful than the loss of a loved one or a broken heart. When your feelings come up, you can have very chaotic thoughts.
When you feel sadness or pain, it is perfectly normal to cry. Rest assured, this is the best way to get everything out. It turns your negative emotions into something tangible, something you can live with and deal with.
It’s also much easier to deal with your feelings this way, rather than things you can’t define. Crying is the first step to overcoming emotional and physical pain.
Take this simple example. When a child falls from his bicycle and injures himself, his first reaction is to cry from the physical pain caused by the fall. The same goes for your emotions: you try to express what hurts you.
3. It improves your mood
There are even more arguments why crying is healthy. One is that when you cry, your brain produces endorphins, which significantly improve your mood. As we mentioned before, tears can bring you relief by taking away the pressure you have been building up inside.
This can help you feel better about yourself and improve and reduce your mood swings.
- While it is true that you cry out of sadness – even if you may not feel completely happy afterwards – you will notice a significant change in your mood.
- You will be able to see everything more clearly or with a better perspective. You can go through hard times, you can collapse, but after that you have more strength.
4.
Think of it this way: When your brain thinks something is wrong or hurts you, it immediately generates a negative response in your body. The mind is very powerful and can sometimes strengthen itself.
Failure to let go of your emotions, feelings, or even thoughts can lead to you suffering from psychosomatic problems. You may experience depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem.
All these problems cause reactions in the body.
For example, people who are constantly depressed or sad (without expressing it) tend to suffer from digestive disorders because they have a poor appetite. In addition, they are more prone to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
5. It helps to improve your relationships
When you’re under pressure, you tend to act very differently than usual. If you’re sad, angry, frustrated, or even depressed and you don’t do anything to express it, you may do or say inappropriate things to others. You would think that no one else knows how you feel during those times and that you do not need anyone to help you overcome your pain and suffering. You distance yourself from those who try to help you.
This couldn’t have been more counterproductive.
There is nothing better than feeling understood and important by the people you care about.
Most of us want others to listen to our problems. However, for fear of being hurt, some people lose confidence.
Trusting other people will improve your interpersonal relationships because it means sharing and understanding that you are protected by another person. It implies that someone cares about your well-being.
6. It improves your vision
There is one last reason why crying is healthy. When you cry, you keep the mucous membranes around your eyes flexible.
Holding back your tears can seriously affect your vision, as one of its main functions is to keep your eyes hydrated.
Remember that your tears are the result of a series of chemical reactions to stimuli coming from multiple different areas, such as:
- Your individual environment.
- External agents that change the mucus in your eyes.
- Biochemical relationships between the brain (memories, emotions, feelings) and your personality and mood.
Now that you know why crying is healthy, you can shed your tears with peace of mind.
