5 Reasons Why It's Healthy To Cry

THERE ARE SOME REAL BENEFITS TO LETTING YOUR TEARS FLOW, AND SCIENCE AGREES

By Kristina Benoist

When was the last time you cried? Did you feel guilty about it after or did it help you feel better? You probably felt a little better. So why do we think about crying as something we should hide and be ashamed of?

We used to cry all the time when we were kids, but at some point in our lives, we start to think we should hold those tears in and that somehow makes us stronger. Little by little, we start to restrict our emotions and keep more things bottled up inside.

Let’s reverse that thinking. It’s okay to cry. It’s good to cry. It helps us become emotionally and mentally healthy people. And the good news is, science agrees.

Here are five reasons why you shouldn’t feel bad the next time you need a good cry.

1. It helps calm you down

We’ve talked about practicing self-compassion and just being nicer to yourself in general, and tears can work in the same way. It’s because crying is actually a form of self-soothing. Crying can help soothe and regulate your emotions, and it gives you the power to actually calm yourself down.

2. It relieves stress

Think about your tears as a mini-detox. Research shows that your tears actually have stress hormones. So when you cry, you release the chemicals that have built up because of stress. That’s why you may feel a little less stressed after letting some tears flow.

3. It changes your mood

There’s always that feeling of peace and calm that hits after crying. Science shows that your brain releases those feel-good chemicals (oxytocin and endorphins) when you shed some tears. While you may start crying out of stress, anger, pain, your mood may completely change by the end of your cry session.

4. It strengthens your relationships

If you see a friend, family member, or even someone on TV crying, it pulls at your heartstrings, right? You instantly feel a connection and want to help. It can feel a little uncomfortable to cry in front of other people, but there’s actually research that shows how crying in front of other people promotes social bonding.

5. It gives you a release

There’s always that feeling when you hold in your tears — lump in your throat, shaky voice. Holding it in can, a lot of the time, be even harder than it is to actually just let yourself cry. Crying is one of the most natural responses, and sometimes you just gotta do it to help you cope with overwhelming emotions. Once you let some tears flow, you feel a release and your emotions feel a bit more manageable after that.

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There can be a point your crying gets to an unhealthy level. If you’re crying all the time, you might be struggling with depression. Take a mental health screen and see if something else is going on.