Crying is an important safety valve, largely because keeping difficult feelings inside — what psychologists call repressive coping — can be bad for our health.
It may be challenging to cry because of the stigma of expressing emotions. Not crying and trying to hold back your tears could harm your mental health, as suppressing emotions can lead to depression, anxiety, or increased stress levels. Some people generally cry less than others, which can be healthy.
And it turns out that letting your emotions flow out of your eyeballs can be cathartic — that is, expressing strong emotions can bring on some good, positive vibes. A good cry can reduce stress, bond you more closely with others and reduce physical pain.
Many people associate crying with feeling sad and making them feel worse, but in reality, crying can help improve your mood - emotional tears release stress hormones. Your stress level lowers when you cry, which can help you sleep better and strengthen your immune system.
That's completely fine, so long as you're not bottling your emotions up. That being said, if your inability to cry worries you or you're struggling to connect with your feelings, it's important that you take time to explore this. Because it might be a sign that there's something else going on under the surface.
Not crying can be healthy, but it also might be a sign of an underlying physical or emotional problem. Read on to learn about different reasons why you're not able to cry, the benefits of crying, and how to access your emotions if that's keeping your floodgates locked shut.
In the short term, it can cause pesky problems such as irritability, anxiety, and poor sleep. But over time, repressing your tears can lead to cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension — or even cancer.
Crying is normal in healthy amounts—but what is a healthy amount? With no hard numbers as to how often we should cry, the American Psychological Association states that, on average, women cry emotional tears several times a month (30 to 64 times a year), while men may cry once every month or two (5 to 17 times a year).
Crying is not a bad thing. In fact, it's how your body releases pent-up energy after a traumatic or distressing event. During your recovery period, let yourself feel your emotions. After crying, you may feel like a weight's been lifted off your shoulders.
Frey, PhD, found that women cry an average of 5.3 times a month, while men cry an average of 1.3 times per month, with crying defined as anything from moist eyes to full-on sobbing.
As challenging as it may be, the best way to handle difficult feelings, including sadness and grief, is to embrace them. It is important to allow yourself to cry if you feel like it. Make sure to take the time and find a safe space to cry if you need to.
Some people bury their feelings and avoid confronting painful, sad, or traumatic emotions. These people may not regularly cry, or, in some cases, haven't cried for years. This isn't a medical condition. It's the foundation some people have built their personalities on.
It allows us to release emotions, reduce stress, and maintain our emotional and physical well-being. The effects of not crying can have a significant impact on our mental and physical health, leading to increased stress levels, decreased emotional resilience, and a higher risk of chronic diseases.
“There is some evidence that bottling up your emotions can lead to physical stress on the body,” says Dr. Mullen. “The stress caused to the body can lead to increased diabetes and heart disease risks. Other effects can be memory difficulties.”
Trauma is not physically held in the muscles or bones — instead, the need to protect oneself from perceived threats is stored in the memory and emotional centers of the brain, such as the hippocampus and amygdala.
The more vigorous the crying, the greater the hyperventilation, which reduces the amount of oxygen the brain receives — leading to an overall state of drowsiness.
Frequent crying during times of extreme stress and anxiety is common. Believe it or not, it can also be a very good thing. Shedding tears can be beneficial on many fronts, and not just for relieving stress.
Key points. The inability to cry can have numerous possible causes. Antidepressants, depression, trauma, personality factors, social stigma, and certain medical conditions can all inhibit us from tearing up. Fortunately, many of the reasons we can't cry can be successfully treated and reversed.
Crying faces without tears led to confusion about the emotional state of the individual, whereas visible tears typically engendered feelings of empathy and connectedness and enhanced participants' willingness to provide support.
Unfortunately, our emotions can sometimes bottle up and create a barrier that can prevent us from thinking creatively and moving towards our goals. This is known as emotional blockage, a condition that can benefit greatly from relationship intimacy coaching exercises and other forms of psychological help.