Why It ’ s Okay to Cry in Public

I waited three months after I was discharged from the hospital for suicidal depression to make contact with the professional world again. I wanted to be sure I didn’t “crack,” like I had done in a group therapy session. A publishing conference seemed like an ideal, safe place to meet. A crowded room of book editors would certainly prevent any emotional outbursts on my part. So I reached out to colleague who had been feeding me assignments pre-nervous breakdown and invited her for a cup of coffee. “How are you?” she asked me. I stood there frozen, trying my best to mimic the natural smile I had practiced in front of the bathroom mirror that would accompany the words, “Fine! Thank you. How are you?” Instead I burst into tears. Not a cute little whimper. A loud and ugly bawling — pig snorts included — the kind of sobbing widows do behind closed doors when the funeral is done. “There’s the beginning and the end,” I thought. “Time to pay the parking bill.” But something peculiar happened in that excruciating exchange: we bonded. Embarrassment Leads to Trust Researchers at the University of California, Berkley conducted five studies that confirmed this very phenomena: embarrassment — and public crying certainly qualifies as such — has a positive role in the bonding of friends, colleagues, and mates. The findings, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, suggest that people who embarrass easily are more altruistic...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Brain and Behavior Depression General Mental Health and Wellness Self-Help bonding Crying Embarrassment Emotional Expression Source Type: blogs