Do you cry often? When is the last time you spend the evening crying? Have you recently cried your eyes out??Crying is not a sign of vulnerability, and you should not apologize for it. Crying is actually a healthy thing which indicates strength and resilience. We give you four reasons to feel empowered after shedding tears:
You Know How to Relieve Stress
According to a 1983 study from the American Psychological Association, crying brings relief of stress due to interpersonal relationships, sadness, and anxiety. Tears help you channel and filter out the thoughts, as bottling them up might cause long-term psychological damage.
Crying actually releases the negative tension accumulated during the day, comforts, and recharges. Plus, emotional tears have hormones that escape the body and could enhance mood.
According to professor Roger Baker from Bournemouth University, crying relieves trauma, as it is the transformation of distress into something tangible.
You Aren?t Afraid of Your Feelings
People can cry for numerous reasons, stress, anger, sadness, low blood sugar, hormonal imbalances, loss, loneliness, and even for trivial things like songs or a sad movie.
Yet, the important thing is that crying makes them accept and confront their feelings. If one ignores these negative feelings, he might turn to alcoholism, drugs abuse, depression, anxiety, and other unhealthy compulsive behaviors.
People often avoid facing the feelings of judgment, fear, and guilt and choking back tears. However, it is important that one acknowledges his emotions and have the bravery to show them and control them.
It Shows You Don?t Care about What Others Think
When not alone, we often try to suppress the feelings of vulnerability and feebleness and not burst out. Our society has imposed a belief that crying in front of others should be avoided at all costs. Yet, our nature is not that controlled, and we cannot always keep up our emotional guard.
According to the findings of a 1964 study, which analyzed the self-reported emotional response of people while in the company of someone crying, people respond less negatively and more compassionately to people who are crying.
Crying made most people feel uncomfortable, but it also means that one is not dependent on the social expectations.
Crying Makes You a Better Friend
Despite showing that you are comfortable in someone?s presence, crying might also show that you are open with your friends.
Sometimes, if you receive bad news with a friend, and you are the first one to start crying, you might help the other to relieve the stress and express his\her emotions too. If you break those walls between you two, you will start building more meaningful relationships.
Crying and Mental Illness
Note that you should talk to a therapist or a counselor if you have frequent urges to cry. These episodes might indicate anxiety and depression. Millions of people around the globe suffer from these conditions, and it is a must to start looking for the solution as soon as possible.
You will find out a lot about these mental illnesses on these three online centers:
- Hope Care
- International Help Lines
- Better Help
Therefore, crying is a healthy mechanism your body uses to cope with the piled up emotions. It improves mood, manages stress, strengthens relationships, and builds your character.
Hence, do not repress the urge to cry, but leave your tears to wash away your sorrow and stress.
