Tears Are Good For Your Health

They may have told you: “don’t cry, calm down.” You may be one of those who guards his anger and sadness, and always conceals his sorrows. If so, we have to tell you: cry if you need to! Tears are good for your health. Emotions need to be released, vent …

Tears and their benefits for our health

Crying is a natural human reaction to many emotions, beyond sadness. There are many possible causes for which we can cry: in reaction to frustration, stress, pain and even joy.

According to the Michigan State University, the content of our tears can be categorized into three different types:

• Basal : The tears that are released when we blink, without any external stimulus.
• Reflection : We cry in response to irritants, such as smoke.
• Emotional : When something happens to us that makes us emotional. These types of tears are usually accompanied by higher levels of cortisol and adrenaline, stress hormones.

Many of us have been brought up in the idea that it is better not to show emotions,  as it is a sign of weakness. It is about preventing the people around us from knowing what we feel.

There are also those who believe that, by hiding their emotions, they can affect them less. However, crying does not have to mean something negative.

Therefore: do not hide what you feel. Don’t hold back crying, tears are good for your health.

Sometimes crying can be a sign of a serious problem such as depression or other mental health problems. Therefore, if a person experiences frequent crying, we recommend that they go to a professional.

1. Tears: a natural painkiller

See also: 3 benefits that crying brings to your mind

The biggest benefit of crying could be its effect as a natural calming. The body relaxes, becomes unstressed. As the tears fall we can feel better, with greater lucidity.

If we repress the tears, the level of anguish can increase, and with it, stress and suffering. Thus, the moment of rest never comes and the suffering is prolonged. A tension that in the medium term can have a detrimental effect on your health.

This is confirmed by a study published in 2014 by the journal Frontiers in Psychology . Apparently, the most common reasons why people cry are related to reducing distress.

In addition, it appears that, according to these researchers, the expression of emotion brings relief. Meanwhile, inhibiting the expression of our emotions (that is, not showing them, saving them so as not to cry) could promote the development of various types of mental and somatic health problems.

That is why, especially when it comes to psychologist and psychiatrist consultations, people are encouraged to cry.

2. Stress reducer

As we have said, according to science, crying can calm us down. In addition, it seems that crying could also reduce stress, make our body return to homeostasis. Mourn e s something natural and necessary. So when you feel down, don’t hesitate to vent.

3. Tears as a cathartic act

You may be interested: How to live with serenity

Holding back tears, hiding anger, sadness or bitterness could be harmful to us. It could cause us a kind of “rebound effect” by wanting to pretend that nothing is happening to us. It is going against ourselves.

For its part, catharsis refers to the experience of relief resulting from the expression of strong emotions that can be experienced after, for example, crying or being aggressive.

The general idea, according to the study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, is that such expressions result in the release of excessive emotional energy that, if not released properly, could develop into a variety of psychological and even physical health problems.

Therefore, crying implies catharsis, a relief because it reduces tension and negative feelings, regardless of whether the stimulus that caused us to cry is gone or not.

On the other hand, empathy makes us feel inclined to help those who suffer. The tears of others activate this feeling, they make us react to strengthen the bond with those who suffer.

There will always be someone to listen to you, with whom to cry and free you from your suffering. Seek support from yours. All sadness will be transitory and we will be able to come out of it strengthened. Don’t hold back crying, tears are good for your health.