5 Benefits of Crying You Didn’t Know About

I am sure all of us have grown up hearing sayings like: crying is for the cowards, or men don’t cry. However, have you ever wondered what it takes to reveal your emotions to the world?

You’d be surprised to know that crying is not a sign of weakness as opposed to the common understanding. In fact it takes courage to face your inner-self, the emotional side of yours. Moreover, crying has several benefits that you probably didn’t know about.

Anti-infective properties

Believe it or not but tears are part of body defense’s first line.  They have anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. They help in fighting the germs that eye pick up from the environment. The anti-infective properties on tears can be attributed to lysozyme, an enzyme that can kill a majority of bacteria within 10 minutes.

Cleanse your eyes

The most important functions of tears are in cleaning the eyes, lubricating the eyelids and eyeballs, and keep them hydrated. Without tears one won’t even be able to see clearly, and the eyes would eventually be damaged from extreme dryness.

Stress buster

Crying is a good way to relieve stress too. The mechanism is simple, shedding tears lead to removal of various chemicals like leucine, prolactin and encephalins. If one suppressing tears for long it may lead to a rise in stress levels and ultimately aggravates various stress-related conditions like hypertension, peptic ulcers, and heart disorders.

Mood elevation

Well, it’s not only from the psychological point of view, but even organically tears helps elevating mood. Shedding tears lowers one’s manganese level which is a component responsible in nervousness, anxiety, fatigue, aggression, irritability, and almost all other kinds of emotions.

Letting the emotions out

Crying is a great way to let out the suppressed emotions like anxiety and frustration, before those feelings plays with your brain and heart. There is no one on earth who doesn’t have to go through hard times, struggles and antipathies. Over a time these tend to accumulate in your limbic system. More you suppress them; more harmful they would be on explosion. After a good cry you tend to feel relieved and cleansed.

Thus, let those tears flow for a better health and emotional stability. However, I am not really asking you to become a crybaby. Crying is good occasionally but not all the time.

Also read: Benefits of Laughing