Everybody cries, even grown-ups. Whether or not we’d like to admit it, sometimes, you just gotta let it all out every once in a while. And let’s be real: The past two years have given us more than enough to cry about. Whether its out of sadness or joy, it’s totally normal and there’s no shame in it, and it just shows that you’re in touch with your emotions! While the puffy eyes and red lips and cheeks could be unpleasant after a good cry, experts have found that there are actually quite a few benefits to crying!
There’s no rule on how much you can cry. The average number of times a year that women cry is 30 to 64 times, and 5 to 17 times for men, so yea, it’s normal to cry from time to time, or every day, for that matter, especially if you’re grieving, or going through major life changes. Not to mention some people just cry easily, like when they’re happy, moved, sad, overwhelmed, or touched – it’s often just an emotional response to their intense emotions.
All in all, crying can improve both your physical and mental health. Here are some of the benefits:
Detoxifies The Body
Reflex tears (tears resulting from external stimuli) are helpful for washing out bacteria or any other irritants. This is because tears contain a fluid called lysozyme, which helps to kill bacteria. Also, it is theorised that tears contain stress hormones and other toxins, so shedding them can reduce your stress levels, aka, you can literally cry your stress away!
Soothing Effect
Crying is cathartic, and we often feel much better after a big cry. That’s because crying activates the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which helps people relax. It soothes your intense emotional state and stops that feeling from turning into mental health problems. So you’ll get back to your normal self after a good cry!
Helps You Cope With Grief
Almost everyone will have to go through grieving at some point in their life, and it’s not something that we can have control over. It happens any time you suffer a loss, whether it’s a family member, a friend, a pet, or even a relationship. While it can be a hard process to deal with, crying allows you to process grief more fully. Eventually, it may even help your feelings of grief decrease over time.
Relieves Pain
When you cry, your body releases hormones that make you feel good, like oxytocin and endorphins. These chemicals are naturally designed to ease your pain, both physically and emotionally. It’s like natural pain relief! That’s why you feel numb after a lengthy crying session.
Improves Vision
Like our body, our eyes need to stay hydrated at all times! Ever feel like tearing up when your eyes feel dry? That’s because crying helps to rehydrate your eyes which can help you see more clearly and increases your ability to focus! So, when you’re studying for your finals, watch a sad video on YouTube and shed some tears, it might just help you study better?
Brings You Closer To Others
This might be hard to believe, but crying actually makes you more relatable, and lets others see a different side of you. Naturally, when you cry in front of someone, they would try to comfort you, which helps you to create a deeper bond with others. Just remember that being vulnerable isn’t the scariest thing in the world, and it’s okay to let others know how you’re feeling.
Puts Things Into Perspective
We often see things more clearly after crying and restoring balance to our emotional state. The thing that we were crying about just doesn’t seem as bad as it did before. In fact, you might feel better after the release of endorphins and have more motivation to take on whatever made you cry in the first place!
