Cry About It: The Health Benefits of Crying
- svjharding
- Jun 24, 2024
- 5 min read
Crying is going to be your new best friend.
Crying used to be my enemy, it would cause abnormally immense pain, leaving my eyes swollen, red and cloudy for days, due to my ~unique~ eye issues and surgeries (13 and counting). Even with healthy eyes, most people deal with the pain, swelling, and redness that accompanies crying. [There is science to that mind you, discussed in GB EP1.] This uncomfortable position is enough to make people not want to cry, let alone the societal shame, social awkwardness, and personal overwhelm that a lot of people feel when they let the crying enemy in.
But what if I told you that crying is not the enemy, and that it is in fact is the most underrated tool in your health and healing toolkit?
I avoided crying due to my glaucoma, which affects 12% of people who undergo a cataract lens replacement. My glaucoma is caused by high intraocular pressure (IOP), which can destroy the optic nerve bundle, nerve by nerve, making permanent blind spots and ultimately leading to blindness if left untreated. I have empirically measured my IOP before and after crying, and can physically feel the pressure rise during and after crying. So, rather than jeopardize the numerous graft donations, stitches and surgeries, I would hold in my emotions and try to stifle any tears welling up, ironically feeling the emotional pressure of the pent up feelings.
Not to go into detail here, but I had gone through multiple traumas with my eye issues; and it was near impossible to process it all without crying. I tried screaming into my pillow, punching inanimate objects, shaking out my hands, humming, meditation, pleading with God, all of it. I was desperate to find another way to release my emotions, and so I went to the best source I know for odd facts…the internet, specifically, google scholar.
*Finding a paper on Google Scholar doesn't guarantee its validity; you still need to check experimental factors, confounding data, funding sources, and the study's demographic.
After having read through the evidence about crying’s benefits (listed below) I gave it a go. I cried whenever I felt like it. In the beginning there were immense emotions pent up; I couldn’t just release a few dainty tears at a time. It was either rough cathartic cries or nothing, deluge or desert. But I leaned into it, sucked up the pain for a week or two, and was pleasantly surprised that my eyes seemed to be conditioned to heal faster, and the cries became less and less intense.
Though my crying has some spicy side effects specific to my medical situation, I know many of you must also dislike crying in some way, or else you wouldn’t have read this far. So here are the benefits of crying, and how you can best implement this health practice in your life for maximum benefit!
The Health Benefits of Crying!
1. Detoxes Cortisol from your Body
Who needs a $17 detox smoothie when crying is free?! Or better yet, buy the smoothie and cry in between sips. Crying releases cortisol (the stress hormone) from your body, leaving you to deal with less physical stress than before. There was a study that measured women’s saliva before and after crying during a movie. Those who cried harder or longer had less stress in their saliva afterward compared to those who cried little or not at all. [1].
It’s no wonder we feel so much better after a cathartic cry. And not only do we self-soothe ourselves when we cry, but we can even boost our mood…
2. Decreases Stress and Anxiety
Oxytocin hormone is released when you cry; it’s known as the love drug. It’s in breast milk to bond baby and mother, we get a rush of it when we get a comforting hug, it’s released when you orgasm, when you are laughing your heart out with your friends, or eating a dark chocolate molten lava cake with coconut vanilla ice cream (or so this scientist specifies). It calms you down, decreases your heart rate, increases your mood, and studies show that it specifically helps improve social anxiety, as oxytocin is the bonding hormone. The more we can implement crying, the more we will experience the benefits of oxytocin. Which has even greater effects coming up next.
3. Increases your Pain Tolerance
Oxytocin released during crying acts as a bonding hormone to the triggering event, which means you are essentially familiarizing your body’s response to that painful (or overwhelming) event. The endogenous opioids (endorphins) we produce during crying also heighten our pain tolerance [2]. So, the next time you experience a similar event–whether it’s physical or emotional–your body will have less of a stress reaction than before, decreasing the pain effects on your body and brain. For instance, if you cry after stubbing your toe, the next time it will hurt less. The same applies to emotional pain; crying over one heartbreak can make the next one hurt less, or at least better prepare us to cope with the harder heartache if it comes. Hopefully the hurt is worth it, since “to love is to be vulnerable” as C.S. Lewis says.
Crying during tough times helps build emotional and physical resilience, preparing us to handle future challenges in a better, healthy, and natural way.
4. Strengthens Social Bonds
Crying with a confidant (trusted friend) not only soothes you back to your pre-crying state but can actually improve your mood! Though it might feel awkward and uncomfortable at first, sharing your tears with a confidant enhances the benefits, thanks to oxytocin, the bonding hormone. So, boost each other's health and mood—cry over the phone, video calls, or in person. Cry with a confidant!
5. Increases Calmness through Repeated Patterns
Repeated behaviors like sobbing, swaying, and shaking during crying are called stereotypies. It’s common to notice anxious stereotypies, like chewing, clicking our pens, bouncing our legs, or picking at clothes and skin. When overstimulated or overwhelmed, these responses release opioids, helping us handle stress [3]. Although these habits might seem annoying, they are valid coping mechanisms to deal with stress and stimuli.
A specific stereotypical behavior literally and figuratively “cools” down our brain. The sharp, deep breaths we take while crying actually cools the brain by bringing in cold air, which is more ‘pleasurable’ for our brain. Cold therapy is known to help with depression and anxiety. So, as dramatic as it may seem, when you’re crying, take deep breaths. It’s benefitting your brain and body!
What’s so cool is that we partake in mood boosting stereotypies frequently! Repeated behaviors like laughing, singing, dancing, working out, and sex, are all examples of stereotypies that work to decrease our long-term heart rate, decrease stress, increase oxytocin, and promote calmness. So when in doubt, move it out!
In my podcast episode Cry About It: crying with confidence, I discuss even more benefits of crying for our wellbeing, including tips for those on antidepressants, how to soothe your face after crying, how to be a confidant, and exploring if animals can cry like humans
I’ll leave you with a few facts before signing off:
We have 3 types of tears: basal (regular coating), reflex (onion tears), and emotional (the focus of this blog).
Emotional tears contain more proteins, causing a slower tear fall that signals others to offer help.
We can smell tears even if unseen.
Women cry more than men on average.
MYTH: happy and sad tears do not fall from a specific eye (right or left), they fall at random.
I hope you cry more, with deep breaths, and with a person. Take confidence that your body is beautifully programmed with the benefits of crying. So...CRY ABOUT IT!
Here’s to Getting Better!
Sav
References:
Vingerhoets, A. J. J. M., & Kirschbaum, C. (1997). Crying, mood, and cortisol. Psychosomatic Medicine, (59), 92-93. https://pure.uvt.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/226264/AV09____.PDF
Gračanin, A., Bylsma, L. M., & Vingerhoets, A. J. (2014). Is crying a self-soothing behavior?. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 502. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00502
Bylsma, L. M., Gračanin, A., & Vingerhoets, A. J. J. M. (2019). The neurobiology of human crying. Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society, 29(1), 63–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-018-0526-y
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