What is crying? Psychology and physiology of tears

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

When a person cries, he doesn't ask "why?", but simply experiences a strong feeling that makes tears flow and voice change. Every living person has ever cried in their life. For a child, this is the only way to communicate that he is ill.

Reflex crying. Psychology of crying

A human being has intelligence, can distinguish between objects and phenomena, give estimates and predict. We can comment on countless causes and effects, but what is crying and what happens to our brain at this time is difficult for scientists to say objectively.

We know crying is:

1) A reflex reaction when something gets into the eye. This phenomenon is also inherent in animals.

2) Emotional reaction. Tears can be caused by emotions: sadness, pain, or severe grief due to the loss of a loved one. After crying, it becomes easier to endure inner mental or physical pain.

3) Very sentimental people also cry.

Can't tell what's really going on and how those tears help to feel relieved. Experiencing grief after some kind of shock, a person requires participation. At this time, he is very vulnerable. If there is no one to support him, he directs his gaze to the sky, and looks for answers to exciting questions in the infinity of space.

Some people just don't like to see their tears, and prefer to hide them, forbidding themselves to cry. Is it harmful?

Where does crying come from?

So, it turns out that crying is inherent only to people, since their emotions are more developed. But still it remains unclear, what is crying? In trying to understand this, the researchers identify three functions that the “tear machine” can perform in our lives.

1) Disinfectant function. The disinfecting effect of lysozyme, a substance contained in the lacrimal fluid, has already been proven. When a person allows himself to cry, his tears kill about 90% of the bacteria they touch. Tears also constantly moisturize the eyes and keep them from drying out.

2) Emotional bonding. Bitter crying in a person causes the sympathy of others. Emotionally warm people try to help, hug the crying.

3) Stress relief. After crying, a person feels that “heaviness has subsided” from him. Crying releases cortisol, also known as the stress hormone. When we cry, the body is in a state of full combat readiness, when we calm down, all the muscles relax. This pleasant relaxation is feltlike a physical relief.

Crying begins when the hormonal system acts on the lacrimal glands. Cortisol causes the vocal cords to contract as well. Therefore, a person feels a "lump rolling up to the throat." Often cry those people who are prone to melancholy, resentment. A depressed emotional state, like stress, is a provoking factor that changes the hormonal background. The hormone of tears - prolactin - is produced, and we begin to cry.

Who cries more often?

Of course, women cry more. They freely express their emotions. Prolactin is a predominantly female hormone. Masculine, tough men who have little of this hormone, for the most part, do not understand what crying is and why it is needed. They are pragmatic and make decisions with emotions removed from themselves. But then they need a sensitive, “tearful” woman next to them.

But still there are sensitive men who are not shy about expressing their emotions. Therefore, the fact that men cannot cry is just a myth.

Inability to cry - diagnosis?

In the world of psychology, projecting other people's emotions onto oneself is called empathy. Such people are easily upset when they see the pain of a stranger or sympathize with the hero of a fictional story. Studying this phenomenon helps to better understand what crying is.

But there are people in the world who don't know how to cry at all. This is the opposite pole of empathy - closed people who do not have tact and compassion. You need to be able to cry, that is, you need to allow sometimes negative emotionsand stress to come out.

If a person absolutely does not know how to experience neither joy, nor anger, nor grief, and tears do not break out for years, this is a very bad sign. Such emotional "numbness" psychiatrists rank among the initial signs of sluggish schizophrenia. Sometimes the inability to cry is associated with poor performance of the lacrimal glands. This condition is called dry eye disease.

Crying as a way to relieve emotional state

When a small child cries, and adults at that moment cheer him up, console him, he will grow up emotionally stable and calm. Conversely, many people who were forbidden to express their grief as children grow up lonely, unsympathetic, or very anxious.

It is known that tears also contain psychotropic enzymes that help relieve anxiety and reduce pain. With tears, toxic substances also come out, as well as with urine and sweat. That is why crying is important. How it happens, still needs to be clarified and explored more deeply. Those who do not allow themselves to cry quietly at times are forced to carry all the "dirty" enzymes in themselves and get sick more often.