The only two movies I have ever cried in were ‘Life is Beautiful’ and ‘Stewart Little II’. In the Italian War film, ‘Life is Beautiful,’ I was balling and wailing because it was horrific. But in Stuart Little II, a few spurts fell from my glands (luckily, just enough to blame it on a speck of dust in my eye). Life is Beautiful was shocking, and heart wrenching. I was angry, and horrified. Stewart Little II, on the other hand, was just so happy, his family was so wonderful. What can I say? It overwhelmed me, and I started to cry. Once I had settled down I wondered: Why did these strange salt water blobs fall from my eyes when I felt emotional? Why do we cry?
People from Darwin to Plato have tried to answer this very question. No other species on the planet can shed emotional tears, so scientists reckon that crying must be caused by some particularly complex human behaviour.
The Science of Tears
Physically speaking, we get tears because our nervous system stimulates nerves that excite special glands sitting just under our upper eye-lids. Once the glands are excited, they make ‘tears’, which flow through tear ducts and onto our eyeballs. This also happens every time we blink because it keeps our eyes moist and dust-free. Once the tears have rolled down our eyelids they take a Magic School Bus journey into ducts next to the bridge of the nose. Once in the bridge of our nose these little wet blobs go through our nasal cavity and can be swallowed or blown out (which is why we get a runny nose when we cry). When our eyes have dust in them it makes perfect sense that tears should come out: the liquid removes the dust and eases itchiness. But when I’m upset, why would emotional tears help?
Getting philosophical
Over a hundred years ago Darwin said that crying was used to attract attention, particularly in children. He said that tears act like a red flag to signal distress. Fast forward to today, and many scientists still agree with him. After all, what other emotion gets people running to help us faster than tears?) Leah Warner and Stephanie Shields from Pennsylvania State University note that tears offer a way to express a genuine emotion. Unlike telling a story, or yelling at someone, tears are harder (but not impossible) to fake. (What gets an actor an Academy Award faster than water streaming from their eyes? Think Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby,and Halle Berry in Monster’s Ball)
But the attention seeking theory doesn’t really explain why many people move away from crowds, and want to be alone when they cry. Maybe Darwin would say that instinctively we want attention, but have been taught by our society that crying is embarrassing or a sign of weakness, so we hide it.
Other researchers think that we cry because it helps us cope with distressing situations. They believe that it can actually reduce pain and suffering. After a big cry, I do feel all the better for it. And it seems that I’m not alone: Ovid, the Roman poet, once wrote, “It is a relief to weep; grief is satisfied and carried off by tears.” Whilst not a lot of studies have been performed on the cathartic effects of crying, it is generally believed that externalizing or getting emotions out of our system is a good thing for the soul.
A recent study from the Netherlands suggested that in the same crying-session we might both seek attention and therapy. They proposed that we first cry for attention, but then, as our heart rate increases, and blood starts tumbling around our bodies we experience the therapeutic benefits of our tears.
Studies have also shown that crying is physically beneficial. It can reduce the negative effects that stress can have on our immune system, and even protect against coronary artery disease. Researchers from Japan studied patients with rheumatoid arthritis and showed that the patients who were moved to tears by psychological stress could control their arthritis better than patients who were emotionally affected, but did not cry. Another study published in 2006, also from Japan, showed that people suffering from eczema due to latex allergies had less of an allergic reaction to latex after crying, when compared to patients who did not cry. Since allergic reactions and arthritis, are partly caused by an overactive immune system, these studies tell us that tears might improve the inner workings of our immune system. Studies also show that giving the heart a good work out when you cry may also have cardiovascular benefits, and protect against coronary artery disease.
Whilst in the past decade modern science has learned to understand the most complex diseases, we still don’t really know why we cry emotional tears. What we do know is that crying emotional tears provides us with physical and emotional benefits. It brings people together when times are tough, and allows people to know you’re upset in a time of need. Even if you don’t think you need any help.
