5 Reasons Crying Is Actually Good For You

SPECIAL FROM There are three kinds of tears: reflexive (clears out irritants), continuous (keeps eyes lubricated), and emotional (responding to joy and sadness). Did you know that humans are the only animals who can do the third one? This fact has led many scientists to ask why? If evolutionary changes are based on improving survival, what about emotional crying is beneficial? The answer is: quite a bit.   1. Crying actually improves your mood A recent Netherlands study showed participants really sad movies and then noted who cried and who didn’t. Those who didn’t felt no different emotionally after the movie, while the criers felt worse. However, within 20 minutes, the criers returned to pre-movie levels, and after 90 minutes, the criers felt much better than their stoic counterparts. “This pattern is often found in retrospective studies where people are asked to rate their mood levels after having experienced a good cry,” said lead author Asmir Gracanin of the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands.   2. Crying helps relieve stress William H. Frey II, Ph.D., a biochemist and director of the Psychiatry Research Laboratories at the St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Centre, Professor and Director Alzheimer's Research Center Regions Hospital Foundation, Minnesota, also made his study participants cry by showing sad movies. (Brian’s Song was a biggie.) His theory was that we feel better after crying because it removes chemicals that build u...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news