When you were young, how many times did you hear your mother say, “Now, don’t cry.” We’ve all heard that from young children and many of us, especially men, don’t cry. However, crying is our body’s natural way of responding to situations and feelings that we have, such as when we are angry or sad. Crying is actually a very healthy thing.

Tears for emotional well-being

How many times have you cried inconsolably? That should be an indication to you that tears and crying are a very necessary part of life. Many doctors believe that in order for you to successfully grieve, you must cry. Did you know that your breathing actually improves after crying? It becomes deeper and this deeper breathing helps control anger and anxiety. Crying is definitely a much better way to control anger than using violent behavior.

Tears are your body’s way of releasing useless emotions. You may not like to cry, but it is beneficial to our emotional health if we do.

Some psychologists consider crying as a breakthrough in the treatment of their patients. They know that when people suppress their emotions, they actually cultivate anger and depression.

Tears for your physical health

Did you also know that when you cry, you are actually releasing toxins from your body? Cortisol is the body’s main stress hormone. When tears were tested, they were found to contain this stress hormone, cortisol. And what’s particularly interesting is that there was a higher amount of cortisol present in the tears when the person was crying in response to an emotion than in response to an irritant, like when you cut an onion and cry. The stress hormone is physically removed from your body when you cry. So when people say they are crying well, they really are crying well.

Tears also wash away irritants in our eyes and act as a lubricant. They clean the surface of our eyes, removing germs that can enter our system through the mucous membranes.

Did you know that when you physically touch someone, it helps to heal that person and when someone cries, a natural response from another person is to touch or hug the crying person? So physical contact can also play a role in the therapeutic properties of a good cry.

Don’t discourage your children or family members from crying. For some it is very uncomfortable, but it is important that we encourage our loved ones to cry when they need to cry. It is a very healthy activity for everyone. Some things you can do to encourage someone you love to cry is give them a hug, tell them it’s okay to cry, and let them know you’re not making them feel uncomfortable when they cry.

So do tears have healing powers? I think they do. I believe that everyone should have a good, healthy cry when they need it.