Why We Cry ...

Often we associate crying with women. Though we all used to be criers since the day we were born. We cried when we were hungry, we cried when our diapers were soggy, we cried when we needed attention. According to the author of Women’s Health, Sandy Hingston, we actually cry less when we started shedding tears.

--courtesy of 9ori.com

Why men cry less than women? In fact, we women cry at least 64 times a year and men 17 times. Wow …
Scientists still don’t know why women cry more than men. They suspect this probably has something to do with the way our brains are shaped, our tear glands are shaped, or perhaps our society simply view crying are not acceptable for men or perhaps crying are signaling our  weakness and males find that undesirable. Whatever the reason maybe … according to the author, “we share our emotions as a sign of trust, and that trust helps us survive.”

It is worth to mention that women tend to cry less when we reach midlife as men get angry less and cry more. Interesting …

There is this saying that some people can make themselves cry to manipulate others is totally wrong according to Frey.  He conducted a study where he had actors try to cry in front of them and those actors couldn’t do it. The only way for the actors to shed tears was having them thinking about something sad.

It is also mentioned in another article in webmd.com by Kathleen Doheny that never crying may not be mentally healthy.

Some of us, women, cry more than others. As you suspected, Scientist still have no clue why … But according to the author of the article in Women’s Health by Sandy Hingston, “Why We cry,” our hormone prolactin increases during puberty, menstruation, pregnancy , and breastfeeding, as well as when we are under stress. According to the author of Crying: The Mystery of Tears, by William Frey, Ph.D., women are more prone to tears because during those periods, prolactin is significantly lower.

This doesn’t mean that those of us who cry less are much stronger. We just manage to push down our sadness to ourselves. Though we may not cry in front of others but we do cry alone.

Doheny says, "Feelings are not about good or bad, it's just what is." Also per British psychiatrist Henry Maudsley, among others: "The sorrow which has no vent in tears may make other organs weep."

Hmm … Now that we know, let’s stop once awhile in our journeys to vent our stress, sadness, and perhaps our frustration with tears. After all, to live longer, we need to be both mentally and physically healthy. Happy Friday!

Until next stop,
Journey of Life