Is Crying Actually Good For You? What Are The Benefits Of Shedding A Tear?

Stop Being A Little Baby

I was riding my bike home last week. It was the definition of a perfect summer night: A cool breeze, traffic-less streets, and the glow of the city pressed up against the sky. Coupled with some music, I was in quite the good mood. As I turned onto Armitage Ave though, something happened. A new song came on. It was Blues Run The Game by Jackson C. Frank. I've heard the song over a thousand times, but at this exact moment, it was different. It hit me like a train of bricks. To my surprise, I welled up and burst into full-blown tears.

I didn't stop riding. Instead I I decided to let the song finish out. By this time, the tears had finally started to subside. It felt like I had suddenly lost ten thousand emotional pounds. This warm sense of relief now hugging my body, it got me thinking: Where the hell did this come from and why do I feel so much better now? Did I need that? Are there actual physical and emotional benefits to letting go of pent up tears? Can crying actually be good for you?

I dug in.

The Types Of Tears & Their Functions

There are three different types of tears that we cry:

Basal Tears: Protect the eye from drying out or corneal damage. They appear when dust or debris enter your eye.
Reflex Tears: Form when your eye needs to get rid of irritants, like onions, smoke, or bodily odor. They also can contain important antibodies to combat bacteria.
Emotional Tears: Triggered by a breakup, someone's passing, shooting pains, a moment of joy, whatever it might be. Strong feelings bring about these tears.

Science Suggests Tears Can Relieve Stress And Pain

Out of the three, emotional tears are the most intriguing. It's easy to understand why we tear up when something irritates our eyes, or that we naturally produce tears to keep our eyes hydrated. But the idea of crying because of one's emotions is different. In his evolutionary theory book, "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872)", Charles Darwin declared that emotional tears are “purposeless.” But why then are we the only animals on the planet that are capable of producing them? Darwin may have been wrong in his theory.

According to the AAO, emotional tears contain stress hormones like Leu-enkephalin and Oxytocin, which attach to our opioid receptors. This means emotional tears may help regulate the body and bring it back to a homeostatic level. They can relieve our bodies of stress and pain, leaving our moods better than before. We actually feel better afterwards.

Why Are There Negative Connotations?

Why does crying having such a negative connotation attached to it then? Why do we look down upon the emotionally distraught? If tears are capable of relieving pain and enhancing our moods, where's the bad in that? Well there are two different places where people can cry, and this makes all the difference in their perception. In public or in private. Crying in the workplace can be viewed as oversharing, because work should strictly be about work, your private life can stay at home.

People tend to share carefully in the workplace setting. If you see your boss crying, it might make you feel a little awkward, because you most likely don't have a personal relationship with them. It's a side of them you don't know. It's different when you're with friends in a more private setting. Friends are friends for a reason, they are there for emotional support.

Crying Brings People Closer Together

Tears bring people together, because we can relate to the feeling of crying. We find ourselves hugging one another and showing support when teary times arise. They show that we too can be vulnerable, and we too are human. We share in that grief and carry the weight of our sorrows together. It has the power to unite a group of people.


Or we see crying when times couldn't be happier, we then share in that same joy by shedding tears together. We empower one another and strengthen our bond. It shows that we share the same feelings and are much alike. My joy is your joy, and forever we will have that in common.

In most cultures crying is associated with babies. Only babies cry. It's a sign of weakness or that you don't have emotional control over yourself. But the opposite can be true. Just because we cry, doesn't mean we are weak or out of control. It means we are human. And because crying is unique to only human beings, we should embrace it, rather than push it away.