Recently, the topic of crying has been on my mind, as well as other body functions under the control of the medulla oblongata, but mostly crying. I figured I could organize and share my thoughts by writing it all out in an orderly format.
I've read a wonderful article from WebMD.com on the topic, and it explained a lot. Basically, we cry for many reasons: maybe to get attention, but also to express that something needs to be addressed- pain, fatigue, joy, whatever. And a fact I personally found interesting is that PhD student Lauren Bylsma surveyed how we feel after a good cry. She talked to 200 Dutch women: Most of them felt better after sobbing, but ones with higher depression or anxiety levels felt the same, if not worse.
Stephen Sideroff, PhD is a staff psychologist at Santa Monica--University of California Los Angeles & Orthopaedic Hospital and is the clinical director of the Moonview Treatment Center in Santa Monica, Calif. He says that for various reasons, people suppress their tears. To the rest of the world, the deadness inside caused by suppressing those tears looks like depression. You can be sad without being depressed, and if you're quick to cry, that doesn't make you depressed. And suppressing your tears may cause a threat to your health. In the words of British psychiatrist Henry Maudsley, "The sorrow which has no vent in tears may make other organs weep."
So in conclusion, don't be afraid to let the tears flow! Crying in public may be humiliating, but when you feel tears coming, get them out! As we learned from Lauren Byslma, crying makes those without high depression or anxiety levels feel better, and as from Stephen Sideroff, holding back your tears may pose a threat to your health. I think it would be better to just cry.
