Adults, particularly men, are sometimes insulted when they cry. A lot of people believe that crying is only normal for newborns and young children. In fact, crying is a natural human response to a range of emotions, including sadness, joy, and frustration. Additionally, there are numerous psychological benefits to crying.

Why do people cry?

According to Medical News Today, humans cry for some reasons. When it comes to tears, it generally refers to emotional crying. However, humans have several types of tears, such as:

• Basal tears are tears that moisturize and lubricate the eyes every day. People blink to evenly distribute basal tears. Basal tears have the highest protein and fat content.
• Reflex tears are the type of tears that are released when the eye is exposed to irritants such as dust, onions, wind, and other irritants to protect the eye and remove foreign objects from the eye.
• Emotional tears, which are tears that are shed in response to emotions that a person feels. These tears come as a reaction to strong emotions such as empathy, sadness, physical pain, and other emotions.

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Health benefits of crying

Crying is more than just shedding tears. When you cry, your body releases oxytocin and endorphins, which are beneficial for reducing both physical and emotional pain. Here are some of the health benefits of crying:

Self-calming mechanism

According to Healthline, crying is one of the body's mechanisms to calm down. A study revealed that crying activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation and calmness.

Crying can help release a person's emotions and make them feel better. When emotional crying occurs, the body releases the hormones oxytocin and endorphins. Apart from relieving some of the pain, crying also helps to improve your mood so you will feel better.

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Gaining support from others

Crying is one way to show that you need support. Crying allows you to connect with others and get support while you are going through a difficult time.

Helps get through the grieving phase

Grieving is a process. Everyone has different ways and mechanisms of getting through grief. Crying is an important activity during the grieving phase. Crying may help you accept the loss of your loved one. However, if you feel that crying has become extreme and difficult to stop, you should consult a doctor immediately.

Improve emotional balance

Crying can sometimes happen without the need to start with sadness. You can cry when you are very happy, scared, or stressed. A study at Yale University suggests that crying can help improve your emotional balance. If you cry when you feel happy or scared, then it is the body's way of recovering from very strong emotions.

Crying is naturally experienced by babies, children, adults, and the elderly. Crying is basically a natural response to the emotions that humans feel. However, if you often cry without cause or cry constantly, then you should consult a psychologist for further examination. It might be an early symptom of a mental disorder, such as depression.

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