HOW CRYING CAN HELP YOU

Crying may serve a real physiological purpose according to this article.

- A titbit from the study group is that they only used women because in pilot testing of sad video's shown to both men and women where both sexes cried, more women ADMITTED they cried

- Men will often cry "inside" or some form of bro-language or high 5's to hide from crying

- The actual study contained 2 parts with 1 being watching sad and neutral videos and noting how many people cried during them followed by a physical/mental task of having your submerged in ice water designed to cause pain at some point or another.

- Looking at cortisol (a stress hormone) levels, there was minimal difference between neutral video watchers, sad video non-crying watchers and sad video crying watchers so nothing to really report there.

- The surprising aspect though was the difference in breathing rates where the criers were able to maintain their breathing rates as the ice water got colder and colder, where the non-criers breathing rate elevated

- This shows that tearing up might assist with controlling breathing rates which can also help you with regulating arousal and serving as an emotional release.

- On top of that they also found that right before crying, participants tended to experience decreases in their heart rates, seemingly in the anticipation of crying and once the crying began then their heart rates tend to creep back up but not above the level they had been at before everything began

In the end it is crucial to finding emotional outlets to periodically release your emotions otherwise you're on track for an unexpected outburst at the worst possible time

Crying tells those around you that you need more sympathy, help or comfort so is also a means of communication, especially when you're an infant and that's all you can do.

Crying alone can also be a way of communicating with yourself by telling yourself about your own state as you might be terrible at reading your own emotions and situation/s and tears could be a way of saying "hey, take a break", that something's not right or take care of yourself - it's your body literally crying out to you!

Crying can occur in times of happiness, angriness and sadness but it's essential to know what's causing you to cry in the first place that could help us better handle our emotions and stress.

Need some help crying? Watch Coco or Toy Story 4!!