As a guy it is very rare when your eyes puff up and tears start to swarm down your cheeks. For me it is crazy to think how few times i have cried in my life. Even a painful, gruesome injury as a torn ACL, couldn’t coerce tears to drip down my face. For me, crying wouldn’t make anything the only this was a laud scream. When someone is seen crying they are perceived to be weak or emoionally unstable. It isn’t part of the daily norm to see a guy cry but more of something women do after a breakup, when they have witnessed something tragic, or when they are hurting emotionally and physically. The truth is big boys and girls can cry too, in fact humans are the only animals that can experience crying. This is a gift so you should use it because it is extremely important to let your feeling out and experience a good cry and let those tears sprint down your face. Image 1
Lacrimal glands produce tears which are composed of oil, mucus, and water. These tears originate from the outer corner of a persons eyes and as they blink the tear is spread into the inside corner of each eye. As crazy as it sounds there are actually 3 different types of tears that are produced every day whether a person cries or not. The first type of tear is the reflexive tear which protects and clears the eye from bacteria and harmful chemicals. The second tear that can be released is the continuous tear, which keep the eyes wet and moist as it gets rid of any dust that can dry up the eye. The last tear is the emotional tear which responds with the mood of a person. This tear is triggered by the happiness and sadness of a person. The more these tears are released the more beneficial it is for the person.
Usually when someone cries it is because something terrible happened to them or someone they care for or when they are just too stressed to think and just need to let out their emotion. Holding in your tears doesn’t prove anything and isn’t going to help you get better. Crying is scientifically proven to relieve stress. According to biochemist, William H. Frey II when a person is stressed there hormones and prolactin build up. He discovered that tears contain Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH) which is renowned to be involved during high stress levels of the body. So when a person cries and tears come out these harmful chemicals (ACTH) are unleashed out of the body. When these stress hormones are released from tears a person will feel relieved and less stressed out. Releasing stress is so important because it prevent future problems like heart disease and high blood pressure. With less stress there is a decreased rate of a heart attack because blood pressure has gone down. Another reason it is so important to let those tears out and cry is because you will actually get into a better mood. In a Netherlands study people who cried during a sad movie actually felt better and happier in the long run. See the people who held in their emotions continued to feel sad after watching such a heavyhearted film but the people who cried ended up feeling better as they released all their emotional tears out of their body. Crying is a positive action because it prevents a person from experiencing depression as well as brain problems and heart problems. Image 2
Not all crying occurs because your emotions get in the way but sometimes it is to protect you eyes! Reflexitive tears have a greater amount of antibodies, which are released in order to wash harmful chemicals out of your eyes. For example have you ever teared up because its been very dusty in a room or if you cut an onion? The reason is because a chemical is transferred from the item into sulphuric acid which can create a burning sensation or a dry feeling into the eye. Lysozyme which is present in tears contain glucose, antibacterials and antivirals which aid the eyeball and eyelids in order to keep vision as well as the eye healthy. This is important reason to cry because it suspends the eye from drying up and becoming dehydrated with no mucous. If there are no tears there is minimal mucous which can cause loss of vision.
Crying is inevitable and as much as you don’t like to do it you really should. Personally I don’t like to cry and after my research I don’t think it will influence me to cry anymore but it is definitely important. When you’re stressed out or scared take a deep breath weep , scream, and cry because its healthy for your body. Keeping those negative stress hormones compressed inside is poor for your health and can lead to several mental and physical problems.
Citations
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5-reasons-crying-is-good-for-you_us_55e9e31ee4b002d5c075f5ff
https://answersingenesis.org/human-body/the-miracle-of-tears/
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-015-9507-9
http://www.webmd.com/children/adrenocorticotropic-hormone#1
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/lysozyme
I always feel incredibly awkward being around people that cry. I rarely cry and also don’t know what to say to someone that is crying. I usually just pat them on the back and say “there, there” awkwardly. I also thought that it was primarily women that cry. Apparently, that thinking was correct. Dr. Audrey Nelson found that boys and girls cry the same until about the age of twelve. Then the numbers get crazy. Women cry 5.3 times a month compared to the 1.4 times men cry a month according to the study. Just something to factor into this essay.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/he-speaks-she-speaks/201101/the-crying-game
This is a great topic to read about, especially from a guys perspective! Kudos! As a girl I do cry a lot and over pretty stupid things at times..It could range from just watching a movie where a couple gets engaged in a romantic way or even a minor argument with my boyfriend. Anything can set me off and sometimes its a burden! (Side note: I actually cried from the clown thing the other night since I was waiting for an Uber to pick my friends and I up from a party. I’m weak, I know) Another reason girls cry more is because of the emotions that come along with the changing hormones during our period. I know I am very catty during my time of the month and even not eating for a long period of time could make me cry, not even joking. This article from Women’s Health magazine describes some of the reasons why women cry more on their period. One fact I found very interesting from this article is that on average, women cry 64 times a year as opposed to men who only cry about 17. I honestly think these statistics for the men would be lower but perhaps that’s just because the men don’t like to cry in front of us.. hmm…
-Caroline Sorrentino
This was a really interesting blog post to read. I definitely enjoyed that you brought up the social idea that people who cry are perceived as weak or unstable, and that this is especially the case when it comes to men. Society really doesn’t like it when men cry!
Unlike you, I cry quite a bit! I cry when I get happy, when I’m sad, and when I’m frustrated. But, most of the time, I cry because of stress that I can’t handle, and I think that it is amazing that crying can actually relieve that stress. I have always noticed that I feel so much better after a good emotional outburst, and this explains why.
I had learned in biology that there were multiple kinds of tears, but I had completely forgot so it was really cool to re-learn the material! I did not know, however, that humans are the only animals that cry. I looked it up and apparently, elephants cry when they are sad too! Here is the link to the article if found.
here
-Dana
I really enjoyed reading this post because it gives a new perspective to crying; an action that is seen as a weakness or makes the person crying seem overly emotional. These studies put to rest the old adage of crying doesn’t help anything. I think that aside from genetic makeup, societal norms play a role in why, typically, women are more open with their crying than men are. Young boys are raised to think that they always need to be strong (physically and emotionally). Of course, there are exceptions, as not all parents engrain this in their sons’ minds, but it is a common gender stereotype. It’s always been more acceptable for women to express themselves and to cry. I think it would be interesting to see if there is a correlation between the physical aggressiveness and frequency of crying in men. If crying helps release stress, and men don’t do this as often, could it be that pent up stress, anxieties, and emotions come out in the form of violence? Although the results of these studies you’ve mentioned may not persuade certain people to cry more often, they definitely discredit, to some degree, the negative stigmas affiliated with crying and showing emotion.
For myself, crying is just a natural reaction to the stress I usually experience. As much as I hate it, I usually feel better after. I do agree 100% that releasing stress and emotion through crying is a huge component to staying healthy and happy, especially in the long run. You mention how boys appear to cry far less than girls; by making this speculation you should also ask why does this appear to be true? Maybe researching a conducted study or experiment to example this. According to this article Nobel Prize awarded scientist Laureate Tim Hunt makes speculations about this topic. There are also many statistics shown about the ratio of men to women crying and the different confounding variables that cause women to cry more such as different chemical levels found in hormones in women, the typical careers women behold that be more emotionally distraught, etc. The article also makes the speculation of how different cultures will vary in which sex cries more, which is another confounding variable. This is just something to consider when writing this blog since it is an important piece information that may support why crying is good. Also how to understand why it is good from both sexes.
I found your blog post very interesting, I was unaware that there are multiple forms of tears that both boys and girls shed each day whether they cry or not. I agree that crying is stress relieving… sometimes everything just builds up and you need to let out a cry once in a while to feel better. I never understood why girls seem to cry more ( I get its not manly to cry) but if it relieves stress why is it something more girls do than guys? http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/01/why-do-women-cry-more-than-men.html That article gives an explanation as to why men cry less and other interesting facts about people crying.
What a great blog post, I learned a lot of new things. You’re right, crying is definitely not something you want people to see if you’re a guy, and is really embarrassing if you’re ever caught crying. I agree with your statement that after reading up on how good crying can be good for you, I still, however, will not change my opinion on myself crying being a guy and all, but it was cool to learn all the benefits of what crying can bring to a human. I never knew that humans were the only species that had the ability to cry so that was definitely something cool to learn as well. Even though my view about myself crying hasn’t changed, after reading this post, my view upon others has definitely changed. If I see any person crying, whether it’s a guy or a girl, I wont judge against them. Everyone is different and crying is a part of life and something humans are able to do. Something I’ve always wondered is why babies and infants are more inclined to cry more often than teenagers and adults. Here’s an interesting article discussing just why this happens:
http://purplecrying.info/sub-pages/crying/why-does-my-baby-cry-so-much.php
Man this blog post was pretty cool to read. What really caught my attention was that there are three types of tears that our eyes produced everyday if we do or don’t cry. That was really cool to find out. I do agree that crying isn’t really manly but it isn’t good to have emotions bottled up because like you said that can lead to bad things for a persons health in the future.